An unambitious and self-destructive sports comedy about an unambitious and self-destructive golf pro who has sunk to his comfortable level as manager of an armadillo-infested driving range in dusty West Texas. The leading question on the docket is whether Kevin Costner, with his bare-buns days far behind him, can recapture that hickish, thickish, boyish, Huck Finnish appeal that once made him, according to someone, the World's Sexiest Man. The surrounding movie meanwhile poses the overruling question of whether, under the circumstances, it can possibly matter one way or the other. Director and co-writer Ron Shelton, who did so much for the actor (and vice versa) in Bull Durham, has here given him some mildly flavorful lines (he speaks of his "inner demons" and his "mythic destiny," and dispenses metaphorical golf tips on the order of "Let the big dog eat!" and "Let that tuning fork ring in your loins!"), but the romantic pairing with Rene Russo -- face and figure of carved ivory, rigidly resistant to the sought-after effervescence -- produces no spark, no warmth. And plot developments, involving a romantic rival who is also a former golfing rival (and a future one, you can bet on it), fall into the sort of sports-film formulations that denigrate the sport they purportedly celebrate. The U.S. Open (perfect forum in which to exorcise those demons, fulfill that destiny) is "not just the biggest golf tournament in the world, [but also] the most democratic" -- so much so that an out-of-practice nonentity can stumble into it, hit his stride, and shoot the best round in tournament history. Sweet nothings in the collective ear of every weekend hacker. With Don Johnson and Cheech Marin. (1996) — Duncan Shepherd