‘Seven Days in Utopia’ is so wholesome it’ll hurt your teeth

There’s an attractive wholesomeness to movies like Seven Days in Utopia, a new film directed by Matthew Dean Russell. Everyone seems like a good person. The weather is always nice. The grass is greener and the girls still hope for those Friday-night dates with the good-looking boys in town. I imagine this is what the 1950s looked like: sepia-toned Americana, with all the cliche trappings of simple society.

Unfortunately, this is not the 1950s, and Seven Days in Utopia can’t overcome its formulaic plot and properly latch onto the heartstrings of the audience.

Luke Chisolm (Lucas Black) is a professional golfer who has always lived within the restrictive shadow of his father, who also serves as his caddy. After taking some misguided advice from daddy, Luke screws up his chances at winning a major tournament and has a meltdown in front of the TV cameras. Justifiably, he becomes the laughing-stock of the ESPN crowd and an unwanted “Highlight of the Week.”

To get away from the publicity and shed his father’s dominance, the young man hits the highway and takes a few wrong turns along the way. Soon enough, he veers off the road and smashes right into the fence of Johnny Crawford (Robert Duvall), a grandfatherly figure who presides over the little town of Utopia, Texas, population little more than 300.

You know where this is going. Even if you haven’t seen Seven Days in Utopia, you’ve seen it.

Luke spends a week in the small town, soaking in the innocent, helpful instruction of the good Christian people around him. I was half expecting someone to deliver him an apple pie through the window.

To further cement the ridiculousness of the story, Johnny turns out to be a former professional golfer himself (what a coincidence!). He takes Luke under his wings and decides to teach him the right way to find his game again. These unconventional lessons include painting pictures and fly fishing in a local river.

There’s also a young, unattached hottie in town (True Blood’s beautiful Deborah Ann Woll), a few strong local women (an unused Melissa Leo and Kathy Baker) and some annoying riff-raff who are jealous of Luke’s success.

The movie has a strange similarity to many other films. The plot is essentially the same story as Pixar’s Cars (big time celebrity takes a break and visits small-town America). There’s also traces of the samurai legend (I will teach you the ways of the putter) and just about every sports movie that ever hit the silver screen.

The acting is unanimously effective. Even though much of the plot is cheesy, the cast members keep a straight face and believe in their characters. I have no problem spending 99 minutes in the company of Duvall, a seasoned actor who seems to carve out characters that exist beyond the parameters of the movie. True, he can do these roles with his eyes closed, but that doesn’t take away from his skilled performance.

Black is also likable, although he buckles a bit in the softer scenes. Woll and Leo are stuck in underdeveloped roles that don’t add much to the plot.

I’d love to wrap my arms around this little movie and embrace it completely. There’s not a second of negativity in the film, which is probably why it’s rated G and received the endorsement of Focus on the Family. In some weird way, it feels like a message film for finding God and converting to a new faith.

That’s all well and good, if the movie were engaging.

For family entertainment, Seven Days in Utopia will suffice. There’s no kissing on the lips and the cuss words aren’t allowed to enter the town limits. Still, for adult viewers, this ebullient, dimple-in-cheek quaintness doesn’t make for a thrilling movie.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Seven Days in Utopia

• 2011

• Directed by Matthew Dean Russell

• Written by David L. Cook, Rob Levine, Dean Russell and Sandra Thrift; based on Cook’s book.

• Starring Robert Duvall, Lucas Black, Melissa Leo, Deborah Ann Woll and Kathy Baker

• Running time: 99 minutes

• Rated G

• Rating: