The new Apple TV+ series Stick is ostensibly a comedy, but the first episode seems to delve more into the sincerity of Owen Wilson’s man character than try to concentrate on laughs. That’s OK, because the show does have lots of potential for both laughs and feelgood vibes.
Opening Shot: As we see a sweeping view of a golf course, a voice waxes poetic about the moment when you’re on a golf course, “Heaven and earth meet, and the world as you know it ceases to exist.”
The Gist: Pryce “Stick” Cahill (Owen Wilson) is using this as a sales pitch to a customer at the golf store where he works; he’s canny about saying the most expensive driver is too much for the customer, but that just makes the customer want the $1200 club even more.
Pryce used to be one of the top golfers on the planet, winning tournaments, even taking a Grand Slam tourney or two. But he hasn’t golfed in many years, not after an on-course meltdown that is easily found on YouTube. He’s struggling financially, looking for his boss to front him the commission for selling the club. The Corvette he drives is beaten up. One of the ways he makes money is to run hustles with his former caddie Mitts (Marc Maron).
In the house he used to share with his ex-wife Amber-Linn (Judy Greer), he lives among piles of mail and other messes. Amber-Linn is determined to sell the house and give him $75,000 of the proceeds to give them both a fresh start, but Pryce doesn’t want to sell, probably because he has no idea what he’ll do or where he’ll go.
One day at the local driving range, Pryce sees Santi Wheeler (Peter Dager), a teenager, smacking the living heck out of the ball, with straight and true drives he hasn’t seen in ages. While Santi says he doesn’t want to golf, he does sneak on the range during breaks from his supermarket job.
Pryce thinks that Santi can go pretty far and damn near stalks the kid and his mother Elena (Mariana Treviño), trying to convince them that he can take Santi to the U.S. Amateur Open later that year. Elena is on board after looking up Pryce’s history, but wants $100,000 up front, and she’ll be on the road with Pryce and Santi. Now Pryce needs to convince Amber-Linn to give him more money after selling the house.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Stick reminds us of the plot of films like The Scout and Million Dollar Arm. It also seems to have the same feelgood vibe as Ted Lasso.
Our Take: Created by Jason Keller (no relation), Stick has a bit of an Owen Wilson problem. We know that Wilson can be funny, given that he’s been in funny movies for most of his career. But there’s something about the way he plays Pryce that’s skews as more sincere and earnest than funny.
Perhaps it’s because, by the end of the episode, we have an idea why Pryce melted down on the course and his marriage fell apart. But through his depression is still this belief that he can coach Santi to capture the heights he failed to reach, and that’s what seems to pervade the first episode.
You notice the contrast when we see Maron as Mitts. Don’t get us wrong; Maron’s acting skills are exponentially better than they were during his eponymously-named IFC show a decade or so ago, and when he talks about how much of an emotional hit he took after his wife died, we feel it. But when Mitts is supposed to be funny, Maron consistently delivers laughs in the first episode.
But just as Wilson’s sincerity poses an issue in the first episode, what we hope is that carries things going forward, as Pryce’s magical thinking is going to need to keep Santi and Elena pushing forward as things on the amateur circuit get more intense.
Sex and Skin: Nothing in the first episode.
Parting Shot: After watching some old family videos, Pryce grabs his clubs, goes out a patio door, and kicks it closed.
Sleeper Star: Judy Greer, all day long, though her charm is equaled by Mariana Treviño as Elena.
Most Pilot-y Line: When Santi’s supermarket manager keeps dropping f-bombs, Pryce keeps saying things like, “Isn’t there a no swearing around customers policy?”
Our Call: STREAM IT. The first episode of Stick is definitely bumpy but there is potential, mainly because Wilson can’t help but make Pryce Cahill a character to root for, and Maron can’t help but be funny.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.