NEW YORK, NEW YORK | I have long loved New York City, especially those days in the 1980s and ’90s when I worked and lived here. And I have always enjoyed a good movie, with trips to theaters all over Manhattan being a big part of being in the Big Apple. The depth and breadth of films you could watch on any given evening was just one of the many things that made New York such a remarkable place to be. And its cinemas provided the occasional escape from the workday when I would slip out of the Time-Life Building in the middle of the afternoon for a quick flick while waiting for an editor to read one of my stories.
But I long ago stopped venturing into the city from my Connecticut home with any sort of regularity. And I almost never watch a movie in a theater anymore.
So, I was excited to accept an invitation to attend the world premiere of “Finnegan’s Foursome” at the Tribeca Festival in lower Manhattan and rekindle, if only for a few hours, a couple past loves of mine.
That the film happened to have a golf theme only sweetened the deal. So did the fact that it was written and directed by its leading man, Ed Burns, a 58-year-old New Yorker who was showing one of his movies at this festival for the ninth time since its founding in 2002.
Christy Turlington and Ed Burns
Slaven Vlasic, Getty Images for Tribeca Festival
And truth be told, I was also looking forward to indulging in my first red carpet experience.
Upon arriving at the OKX Theater on the corner of Chambers and West streets, I walked across an actual red carpet on my way into the building, passing under a white marquee across which the movie title was spelled out in black letters along with the words “World Premiere.” Soon after, I began to see some of the stars of the film, among them Brian d’Arcy James, Erica Hernández, Brian Muller and Burns, of course, who happened to be celebrating this day the 23rd anniversary of his marriage to Christy Turlington, the supermodel-turned-women’s health advocate. The actors posed for photographs and talked to journalists, and I enjoyed seeing them so up close and personal. I also appreciated how relaxed and chatty they were with members of the media and how long some of the interviews lasted. And unlike many of my more recent post-round experiences as a golf journalist, I did not see a single agent or manager try to stop an interview after only a couple of questions.
Then, it was time for the film itself, and while I had already watched “Finnegan’s Foursome” on my laptop, I relished the chance to see it on the big screen – and with other people. The scenes shot in Ireland wowed me, especially those of the rugged Carne Golf Links on the Atlantic Ocean in County Mayo, and the ones captured in the pub where the foursome repaired after their rounds. The dark pints of Guinness and their tan, frothy heads made me thirsty. And Hernández, Muller and James brought a tear to my eye with their soulful rendition of “The Parting Glass” with local musicians.
I found the on-course banter and playful verbal abuse true to form. Ditto the ways that golf brought the sometimes-feuding family together. And after the credits rolled and the lights came back on, I joined the audience in saluting the film and the folks who were a part of it with hearty applause.
It was a good night, and I turned to my wife, Cynthia, as we drove up the Henry Hudson Parkway after leaving the after-party and said: “We need to do this again.”
“Finnegan’s Foursome” debuts on video on demand and digital platforms on June 19.
John Steinbreder
Top: Getty Images/Tetra images RF
