A technically polished, but mostly unshakeable, example of a genre (the documentary about kids doing something difficult) that is presumed to be inherently charming, Josh Greenbaum's The Short Game introduces us to eight children who travel to Pinehurst, North Carolina, to compete in the World Junior Golf Championship. Lacking drama for those who aren't passionate fans of the sport, and with barely interesting characters compared to some we've met in similar films, the documentary has little commercial appeal and completely lacks the sociopolitical content that has led festival audiences to support some less compelling children's documentaries.
Filmgoers inclined to believe that the documentary world has relied too heavily on this "kids plus dreams equals crowd-pleasing" formula will find further evidence of exploitation here, as several of the film's subjects have fathers insistent enough to be honorary members of the sorority of theater moms. One father has been telling his daughter "You're the best golfer in the world" since she was 3 years old. What he might describe as positive visualization, many others would call brainwashing. A mother, scolding her son between holes for his mediocre performance, brings him to tears. A single father, from what we see, seems to have no reason to live beyond his daughter's swing.
Director: Frank Sanza
Writers: Larry Boatright, E. Joren Christensen, Florrie Laurence
Stars: Ben Krieger, Mackenzie Astin, Katherine Cunningham
Not all the children here are burdened by overbearing or achievement-obsessed parents. Zana, a chubby, cheerful 8-year-old from Johannesburg, seems well-adjusted; Jed, from Manila, seems to use success on the green as a way to counteract autism's tendency to marginalize him. But Allan, a shaggy blond with dollar signs in his eyes who imagines building a golf resort that is "a huge facility... that will be made of marble...", seems to have chosen Donald Trump (whose face adorns his bottled water) as his role model.
After introducing the cast of characters, Greenbaum focuses on observing the three-day tournament. Although fortunes fluctuate during the film's second half (a sportscaster-like narrator chronicles changes in player rankings), sports drama is relatively sparse; viewers will focus on how parents help their children cope with stress or, as they often do, exacerbate it. "There is no plan B," says a father who imagines nothing less than global stardom for his son; the film offers no clue as to whether he considers this a parenting strategy worth supporting.
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