Things are not looking too good for Twin Pines golf club and the manager Charlie Conroy (Zach Hanner) knows it. They are badly in need of a cash infusion, there's an important tournament in the offing and the elitist crowd over at Magnolia Point want to put them out of business. And they got roaches! Then, before you can say deux-ex-machina, the new exterminator Jake (Ryan O'Flanagan) turns out be a former golf prodigy. Although he is forbidden to play by his girlfriend (Aerli Austen) - something happened in college - he turns pro for Twin Pines without needing too much persuasion. From that point on "Birdies" is an amiable trip down the fairway!
Director Troy Carlton is good with both a punchline and sight gag. There is a hole-in-one shot that had me laughing out loud! And in O'Flanagan, he is blessed with a lead who is both handsome and has a way with comedy having earned his chops in stand-up. He has a certain confidence about him. The relaxed charm of a Cary Grant. Meanwhile, Zach Hanner plays Conroy with a nice "Que Sera, Sera" attitude. In fact, even the guys over at archrival Magnolia Point find it hard to get worked up about anything. And that's part of the movie's appeal.
However, the mediocre gag-saturated script (credited to four writers including Carton) drags the movie down and, ironically, there isn't enough to go around. The movie is padded to the max. The scenes are held together by too many montage sequences accompanied by mostly uninspired pop/rock songs.
In fact, the funniest thing in the movie happens during the closing credit crawl when all twenty eight songs are presented as incriminating evidence, verifying what we suspected all along. It must be some kind of a record! Clocking in at 1h 45m, "Birdies" would work better if it was trimmed to just sixty minutes and then re-released as a short film.
As things stand, "Birdies" is a pleasant diversion that requires little or no concentration and gives you innumerable opportunities to fill up on that popcorn.
