One of the biggest losers and greatest heroes in sporting history, Maurice Flitcroft, gets the big-hearted biopic he deserves in director Craig Roberts’ wildly charming The Phantom of the Open. Oscar® winner Mark Rylance plays the con-artist-cum-golfer, an unpretentious Mancunian crane operator and family man who weasels his way into the 1976 British Open at the age of 46. It’s an underdog story unlike any other; there is no linear “work hard and your dreams will come true” narrative. Instead, Roberts embraces the unexpected joy and comfort found in messing up and starting over again and again. Such earnest ambition makes sense when considering the team is working from a script by Paddington 2 scribe Simon Farnaby, who co-wrote the book on Flitcroft (subtitled “The World’s Worst Golfer”). No sharp edges, no traps, only good intentions and terrible scores in this delightfully oddball romp and giddy testament to unbridled optimism.