There\u2019s a particularly poignant scene from the new golf movie, \u201cFinnegan\u2019s Foursome,\u201d in which a pair of brothers played by Edward Burns and Brian d\u2019Arcy James find themselves discussing the flaws of their deceased dad, a former PGA Tour pro who was constantly on the road during their childhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he was a heart surgeon or an airline pilot or was in the service, he would have been gone just as much,\u201d<\/i> James\u2019 character points out. \u201cBut instead, he was a golf pro, and because of that, he gave us one of the greatest things in our lives, our love of the game.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cAlright, I\u2019ll give you that, but let\u2019s say we didn\u2019t have golf?\u201d<\/i> Burns\u2019 character asks.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we do,\u201d<\/i> James\u2019 character replies, \u201cdon\u2019t we?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
There are four co-stars in “Finnegan\u2019s Foursome,” but the true star is the game at the center of it. The film, which had its world premiere<\/a> at the Tribeca Festival before being released digitally on June 19, is a reminder that the most important golf tournaments aren\u2019t the ones we watch on TV, but rather the ones we participate in with family and friends. In this case, it\u2019s the Finnegan Cup, which is being contested for the first time since the family patriarch\u2019s passing. (And, no, I\u2019m not giving anything away that\u2019s not shown in the movie\u2019s official trailer.)<\/p>\n Burns, who also wrote and directed the film, only seriously picked up golf six years ago as an activity to do with his \u201cgolf junkie\u201d dad after his mom passed away. But he quickly became \u201chooked\u201d on the game.<\/p>\n \u201cFor two years I’m just taking lessons. I’m only watching YouTube instructional videos. I’m devouring anything I can read about golf. I just become obsessed to the point that my wife says to me, like, ‘So is this now, like, more important to you than your work?’ And that’s kinda where the light bulb went off,\u201d Burns (“Saving Private Ryan,” “The Brothers McMullen”) says. \u201cSo I had to figure out how I could marry my two passions.\u201d<\/p>\n Burns began working on a script while collecting jokes, stories and on-course barbs from people he\u2019d play with. He said he wanted to create a movie that connected the recreational part of the game with the professional part and history, hence the character of his dad in the movie, played by Ian McEhlhinney. It was a part of the plot that resonated with James.<\/p>\n \u201c My dad was 50 when he passed away, and so I never really got a chance to have more time with him in life, let alone on the golf course,\u201d James (“Spotlight,” “Shrek The Musical”) said. \u201cSo, this movie really hit home in a very particular way to me as well.\u201d<\/p>\n What Burns hopes will resonate with golf fans is the authenticity of the on-course scenes shot mostly at C<\/a>arne Golf Links<\/a>, which he calls one of his \u201cfavorite spots on the planet,\u201d and which Golf Digest ranks among the World’s 100 Greatest Courses.<\/a> Burns says he watched and studied every golf movie ever made, and while he says \u201cTin Cup\u201d<\/a> is his favorite, he thinks \u201cThe Greatest Game Every Played\u201d captures the golf moments the best.<\/p>\n RELATED: The inside story of how ‘Tin Cup’ became a classic<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe reason ‘Hoosiers’ is such a great film is that they shot the hoop really well,\u201d says Burns, who also manages to work a nice homage to his beloved New York Knicks into the movie. \u201cAnd you’ve seen other basketball movies or sports movies where they didn’t get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n With the action taking place between a family of recreational golfers, no one\u2019s swing had to look tour quality. However, Burns didn\u2019t want the crew to look like hacks, either.<\/p>\n \u201dI had to reconcile the fact that Brian d\u2019arcy James and I have lousy swings if your father was a golf pro, right? However, I have a ton of friends whose parents are professional musicians and they’re lousy musicians,\u201d Burns says. \u201cAnd they said, part of it is, depending on your relationship with your old man, you either embrace what they do or you kind of reject it.\u201d<\/p>\n Finnegans Foursome<\/p>\n Rival brothers played by James (left) and Burns (right) travel to Ireland to honor their deceased father, who was a PGA Tour player. What results is a week of unexpected family bonding through golf.<\/p>\n Stu Teehan<\/p>\n Brian Muller, a long-hitting 10-handicap who plays Burns\u2019 son, had the least brushing up to do with his game. Having previously worked with Burns before, his part was literally written for him a few years before when they played during the filming of the series \u201cBridge and Tunnel.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEd saw me hit the ball and told me right then and there, \u2018I have this golf movie I’m about to write. You’re gonna play my son, and we’re gonna shoot it in Ireland,\u2019\u201d Muller (“The Good Wife,” “Chicago PD”) says. \u201cAll my friends told me not to believe him. \u2018It’s Hollywood,\u2019 they said. \u2018People make empty promises all the time.\u2019 But two years later we were in Ireland shooting the film. That’s who Ed is.\u201d<\/p>\n RELATED: Hollywood star Owen Wilson’s method acting got him hooked on golf<\/a><\/p>\n Muller doesn\u2019t anticipate ever having a dream job quite like this again\u2014unless there\u2019s a sequel\u2014and he appreciated Burns\u2019 commitment to making the golf scenes realistic.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was important for all of us to get it right, which is why we shot as many real shots as possible,\u201d Muller says. \u201cIt\u2019s also a movie about the regular golfer so it has plenty of bumps and bruises as well.\u201d<\/p>\n That process was even more involved for actress Erica Hernandez, who plays James\u2019 daughter, and didn\u2019t know what a bogey was before filming started.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was definitely a crash course,\u201d said Hernandez, another \u201cBridge and Tunnel\u201d alumni. \u201cI started consuming everything golf-related I could.\u201d<\/p>\n Here’s an exclusive clip from the movie:<\/p>\n Your browser does not support the video tag.<\/p>\n Hernandez (“Jury Duty,” “True Lies”) developed a very passable swing thanks to Golf Digest Top 50 Teacher<\/a> Alison Curdt and a coach in Ireland named Liam McCool. Burns compared the process to having to learn the choreography of dancing or fighting, so he advised Curdt to have Hernandez focus on learning the movements and sequence of the swing for two months without worrying about hitting a ball.<\/p>\n \u201cLuckily the magic of moviemaking was on my side, so on the physical end Ed had me focus on making sure my swing looked good first,\u201d Hernandez says. \u201cI’m glad all that time practicing the twist in front of a mirror paid off. I started training in earnest a few months before filming, and we filmed for about five weeks all in. I think by the end I can confidently say I could play a real, albeit slow, game on my own and know how.\u201d<\/p>\n RELATED: Tom Holland is one of Hollywood’s top actors\u2014and golfers<\/a><\/p>\n The movie\u2019s secret sauce, however, comes from the close relationships among the cast that led to playful on-screen\u2014and on-course\u2014banter. Burns says his biggest challenge was getting the audience to care about a family golf tournament, but that was made a lot easier by the actors seemingly caring about each other\u2014and being comfortable to needle each other during the tournament scenes.<\/p>\n \u201cIf that was my first film with him, I would have been so respectful to Ed because I don’t know how he does it all,\u201d says James, who was appearing in his fifth film with Burns. \u201cBut the fact that we\u2019ve had some miles on our odometer, it was a natural thing to be able to kind of get in there and throw some elbows. Familiarity definitely breeds contempt in this case, in all of the best ways.\u201d<\/p>\n And like the characters in \u201cFinnegan\u2019s Foursome,\u201d the actors who played them also learned that golf is a gift that keeps on giving.<\/p>\n \u201c You could imagine this was the greatest job you could ever have,\u201d Burns says. \u201cAnytime you get green lit, that is a gift and you gotta show real gratitude for that, because it’s impossible to get these small indie movies made. To work with a bunch of your friends, and then on our days off, or even sometimes if we wrapped early, we’d grab our bags and go play nine until the sun went down. And the nice thing is in the summer in Ireland, the sun doesn’t go down until late at night. So, we got a shit ton of golf in.\u201d<\/p>\n More From Golf Digest<\/p>\n![\"Finnegans](\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/cOGcUAW7uNHL1kSDOfGT.g--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com\/content\/dam\/images\/golfdigest\/fullset\/2021\/FINNEGANS_STILL14.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix\/1781739730656.jpeg\"\/)
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