Stick – A Review

You’ve probably heard, if not seen, this premise before: a washed-up professional athlete in hard times turns things around when they take up coaching an up-and-coming star athlete. If not the first entry in a franchise, it usually appears down the line. It can be used to describe Cobra Kai and Johnny Lawrence, minus the professional athlete aspect. It’s a trope in sports movies and TV, especially since most sports have short careers, and many former athletes do turn to coaching. So, in a game where the audience knows a lot of the playbook, how do you keep it fresh and new? It comes down to the crafting of the characters and the world. Stick, created by Jason Keller, is set in the world of golf and makes its twist by revealing the reason the protagonist is no longer a professional golfer.

Owen Wilson plays Pryce Cahill, introducing us to his character as he attempts to oversell an expensive club to a customer. It quickly becomes clear that he is living in a house he was supposed to vacate years ago following his divorce from Amber-Linn (played by Judy Greer). Pryce relies on his former glory and his notorious collapse to scam people out of money alongside his friend Mitts (played by Marc Maron). He is plodding through life until everything changes when he sees Santi (played by Peter Dager) making extremely long shots with impressive accuracy at the driving range, igniting his desire to turn Santi into the next golf superstar. However, there are several obstacles to this plan. Santi has abandoned golf because his former coach, who was also his father, would abandon him whenever he failed to perform well. Elena (played by Mariana Treviño) demands reassurance about Pryce’s seriousness in the form of $100,000, which Pryce lacks due to his small-time conning to survive. To gather the money, he will need to persuade Amber-Linn that it’s a good idea, and agree to let her sell the house and move out. He also needs Mitts to be on board, but Mitts, like Amber-Linn, understands why Pryce fell apart during his big game: his son had just died, and Santi is now the same age his son would be. Mitts is concerned that Pryce is attempting to replace his deceased son with Santi, and that could lead to disaster, particularly given Santi’s own familial issues. Yet, it’s these dynamics that become intriguing when they all hit the road together (literally, everyone except Amber-Linn travels in a camper van to the tournaments). 

Almost immediately, Pryce unwittingly triggers Santi’s past traumas. However, instead of discussing it, he resorts to what he does best: working a con. On the road, Santi quickly forms a bond with Zero (played by Lilli Kay), and Pryce attempts to use this connection to rein Santi in from his self-destructive tendencies on the course. He has good intentions, but his approach is manipulative. After Zero learns more about Santi’s relationship with his dad, she grapples with the challenge of how to assist Santi without causing him harm. This dynamic is interesting because both Zero and Pryce genuinely want to help Santi and improve his golf game/get him the win, yet both have a financial stake in the outcome due to the deal made between them. When the truth comes to light, as it inevitably will, there will be a dark moment for Santi, and it will be fascinating to see whom he turns to for support. I’m guessing Mitt.

Also, as Pryce was teaching Zero about the different clubs and how they work, a line implies his drive is better than it was when he was doing it professionally. A possible door for the future of the series is that Pryce himself becomes a professional golfer again, and he and Santi even become rivals. Pryce would be on the older side to be a professional golfer, but it is not unheard of, Phil Mickelson comes to mind.

Stick drops new episodes on Wednesday (or late Tuesday) on Apple TV+.