If you were to combine Ted Lasso with Happy Gilmore, what would you get? The new Apple TV+ sports comedy Stick. While Ted Lasso is set to return for a surprise fourth season and the Happy Gilmore sequel Happy Gilmore 2 will be released this year, almost 30 years after the original, Stick is a must-watch while you wait for both to return.
The series stars Owen Wilson as Pryce Cahill, a once revered professional golfer who has hit a snag in his life. But when he meets the young Santi Wheeler (Peter Dager) and sees something special in this 17-year-old amateur golfer, his love of the game is reinvigorated. It’s a story that has been told time and time again, but it doesn’t matter. The sports comedy will keep you gripped through the 10-episode run, and far transcends a typical comedy.
What is Stick About?
Pryce Cahill is struggling to make ends meet after an incident on the golf course sullied his reputation years ago and took him out of the game for good. His life is in shambles for this reason and other personal tragedy. His ex-wife Amber-Linn (Judy Greer) is not only pressing him to finally sign those divorce papers after years of being separated, she’s also pushing him to finally agree to sell their old family home. The layers to Pryce’s story will bring on the waterworks.
Supported by his best friend and former long-time caddy Mitts (Marc Maron), Pryce happens upon the young Santi at a driving range when the teen’s explosive drive catches his attention. Pryce becomes fixated on the young man, believing he has a natural talent and Pryce can help him harness it. He’s the Chubbs (the late Carl Weathers) to Santi’s Happy (Adam Sandler). Or even the Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) to Phil Dunster’s Jamie Tartt.
The story takes a rather predictable turn as Pryce tries to convince Santi and his mother Elena (Mariana Treviño) that he’s serious about making Santi a star. Santi is reluctant, for reasons relating to why he quit golf competitions in the first place. But Pryce has finally found purpose, and he won’t give up.
Stick Review
I went into watching Stick with reservations. Is this just a cheap Happy Gilmore imitation, or a sad attempt to capture the same lustre that Ted Lasso did? The series combines elements of both those shows, from the emotional, deeply layered characters like in Ted Lasso to the hilarious mentor and mentee moments, villains and heroes, and underdog story of Happy Gilmore. But Stick still manages to stand on its own.
You instantly want to root for Pryce from the very beginning, despite the fact that he’s a complete mess. He has lost his way. He’s going nowhere fast. You also find yourself rooting for Santi, too, a kid who once upon a time had a love for the game that he buried deep down. In fact, there’s no character on the show you don’t want to see succeed.
Maron does a superb job as Pryce’s confidant, the voice of reason and gruff reality checks, convincing you that these two men do, in fact, go back 30 years. Treviño as Santi’s mom, meanwhile, is perfect as the strong-willed, single mother who is deeply protective of her child, but also wants to give him the autonomy to make his own decisions. She isn’t going to let him be taken advantage of. Ever.
As new characters are introduced through the episodes, they each find their place and add to the developing story in ways that are, once again, predictable but with their own unique, modern twists. You can smell where the story is going to go from a mile away. But you want to see it play out.
Santi is as endearing as a pompous Gen Z character can be, vulnerable, impressionable, hurt, but also respectful. For all his teenage brooding and stupidity, you can see beneath the surface that he’s just a good kid with untapped potential and the desperate need for someone who truly believes in him (beyond his mom, of course).
Wilson is known for playing down-on-his-luck, self-deprecating characters like Pryce, and he nails them every time. But the actor reminds us in this role that he’s not just a one-trick pony. He can tackle deeply wounded characters, those who hide their true feelings with humor and deflection. Pryce has moments of self-reflection and grief, and Wilson is just as convincing in these moments as he is playing Pryce’s goofball side. You want to be his friend. And much like his ex Amber-Linn, you truly want to see him find his love for the game once again, or at least to be happy about something, anything.
Should You Watch Stick?
Stick surprised me as being more entertaining than I expected, a worthy follow-up to Ted Lasso from the streamer. If you love golf, Wilson, and movies like Happy Gilmore, you’ll enjoy this series, too. Dager is a relative newcomer on the scene: his biggest credits to date include WITS Academy, Demente Criminal, Who Invited Charlie?, and Insidious: The Red Door. But I suspect that after this role, we’ll see a lot more from the talented young actor.
The predictable nature of the story might spark eyerolls, but much like Ted Lasso, the sadder, more emotional moments will hit you like a ton of bricks crashing to the sounds of a Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack. It bring a sense of heart into the otherwise humorous show that you might not see coming at times. Along with the subtle nods to sports comedies that have come before it, Stick is about love, loss, trauma, heartbreak, friendship, and even coming-of-age, all rolled into one.
Ted Lasso was about the title character, a jovial American coach who took a job leading an English football team, despite knowing nothing about that sport. In Stick, Pryce knows everything there is to know about golf, and he was really, really good at one point in his life. He lost his way, but now, he wants to impart his wisdom on the next generation. When you dive into his reasons for wanting, no needing, to do so, it cuts just as deep as when we first saw Lasso hideaway in a corner to have a panic attack, desperate that no one would see this side of him.
Not everything is what it seems on the surface. People need purpose, especially when they’re dealing with grief and loss. Is Stick as good, as profound, as equally emotional and funny as Ted Lasso? It can get there, especially in how the first season sets up a potential season two. The heartbreaks, triumphs, and friendship throughout the 10 episodes are a total ace in the hole.