A High-Energy Sports Movie That Is A Tribute To Texas, Golf, & Friendship

The Long Game has the difficult job of maintaining the integrity of true events and people while creating a concise and well-balanced narrative. It takes place 1950s Del Rio, Texas and follows a group of young Mexican-American highschoolers who form a golf team and compete against the all-white teams that dominated the sport at the time. At the heart of the story is JB Peña, a World War II veteran and school superintendent who will stop at nothing to get the boys and himself recognized and respected as part of the golf community.

JB Peña and his wife moved to the small town of Del Rio, TX. When JB is rejected by a country club on the basis of his skin color, he’s devastated. But his world soon collides with a group of young Latino golf caddies who work there, and JB is inspired by the handmade course the boys built to teach themselves golf.

Pros

• The Long Game truthfully tells its story
• The film’s strengths lies in the camaraderie of JB and his friends
• The Long Game tells a well-balanced story

Cons

• The character relationships aren’t fully explored
• There’s an overall lack of character development

Like many of the best sports movies based on real-life events, The Long Game is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of its genre. There is heavy material woven through the story, and the serious instances of violence and racism are treated delicately. However, The Long Game has no intentions of being a morality tale and is most concerned with the hard work and joy the characters find through each other and the game of golf. Julio Quintana helms the film as the director, and there’s never any doubt that he has a clear vision for the film’s trajectory.

Fast Pacing & High Energy Keeps The Long Game’s Story Moving

The film rarely drags or lingers on a scene

From the first shot, The Long Game jumps off the screen, practically begging us to leap off the couch and join in on the fun. The central group of boys is boisterous, though they have a deep affection for each other. Their dynamic, in the beginning, is endearing, and this sense of friendship and belonging within their group is an enduring aspect of the movie. Quintana understands youthful exuberance well, but the subdued resignation of JB (Jay Hernandez) is just as compelling. From the start, the audience understands that golf is more than a game to JB, it’s acceptance.

Golf might be some people’s favorite sport, but for many, the nuances of the game and the skills demonstrated onscreen will be lost on them. However, The Long Game grasps this and uses it to its advantage. Almost every tournament is portrayed through montage, with the film only slowing down to show particularly pivotal moments. This has its pros and cons, as it means the game of golf never has the chance to be viewed as boring by the audience, but also that none of the games carry enormous weight within the narrative.

While the movie is about much more than golf, the story misses the opportunity to use the game to its fullest potential as a metaphor. There are scenes that The Long Game gives ample time to while whizzing through dramatic climaxes between central characters. Character motivations can get lost in the story’s pace, namely with Joe (Julian Works) and Frank (Dennis Quaid), the two characters who serve as foils to JB and round out the narrative. They’re strong-willed and compelling men, but their internal struggles aren’t clear enough. Not to mention that Joe’s friends and teammates are overlooked.

There is an undercurrent of patriotism and militaristic pride throughout the film. While The Long Game actively grapples with what it means to be Mexican-American and how Mexicans were and still are treated as second-class citizens simply because they’re not white, there is a sense that every character is proud of their country and to be American. The film is decidedly apolitical, and there’s ultimately no requirement for the movie to take a stance. It’s not the job of The Long Game to make a statement, and the parallels between the military and team sports mirror each other nicely.

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Though The Characters Are Underdeveloped, The Emotional Impact Is Strong

Few of the characters are fully explored, but the ending provides an uplifting climax

Though The Long Game is just under two hours, we never get the opportunity to fully know the characters. There are hints of deeper issues that signal the characters have fully formed lives, but these moments never get more than a scene or two to develop. Some of the most egregious omissions of character development are in Lucy Peña (Jaina Lee Ortiz), JB’s wife, and Daniela Torres (Paulina Chávez), Joe’s girlfriend. They have definitive traits and independent desires, but they are viewed only through their connection to the men in their lives.

The three characters who are given the most time to evolve and grow, Joe, JB, and Frank, are still relative mysteries by the end of the film. One of the most compelling dynamics is that between Joe and his father, but it’s explored very little onscreen. This illustrates the biggest issue with The Long Game; it attempts to tackle too much and loses strong character work in the process. In this way, the momentum of the film betrays itself. Though some energy might have been lost in exploring these relationships, it would have benefited the story.

However, the inherent universality of the narrative gives the plot strong highs and lows despite not knowing too much about the characters. If anything, it’s a testament to what the film accomplishes that there’s a desire to spend more time with the story. Similar to the lack of character development, questions about generational divides and assimilation are only mildly touched upon. In this way, The Long Game doesn’t push itself far enough, but ultimately, it successfully and truthfully tells the story it set out to tell and has fun along the way.