R | 2h 2m | Drama, Comedy, Sports | 2026
In 1995, writer-director-producer-actor Edward Burns burst upon the scene with the independently financed family comedy-drama “The Brothers McMullen.”
The film received rave critical reviews at the Sundance Film Festival. Fox Searchlight, the art house division of 20th Century Fox, made it their first release.
It was followed the next year with “She’s the One.” The film had a bigger budget, a Tom Petty soundtrack, and a higher-profile cast, including Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Aniston. However, it was less loved by audiences and the critics than “The Brothers McMullen” and made less money.
Still, “She’s the One’ impressed Steven Spielberg enough for him to cast Burns as the malcontent Brooklyn-based soldier in “Saving Private Ryan.” At this point, Burns had made two profitable movies and appeared in one of the most revered and loved movies of all time. Moving forward, Burns mostly frittered it all away.
A Familiar Formula
Burns chose to recycle the dialogue-heavy, dysfunctional Irish family romantic comedy formula so often that it wore people down. No one cared anymore.
In 2025, Burns made a sequel to his first movie, “The Family McMullen”; it was quite good but largely ignored. It signaled a filmmaker bereft of ideas and desperate for reaffirmation.
With “Finnegan’s Foursome” (“Foursome”), Burns has made one of his best movies in the last two decades, but also one that comes with considerable caveats.
A third possible stumbling block: It’s all about golf. As my father was a pro golfer and I’ve been playing since 5, for me this is actually a plus. It’s clear that the four principal performers were already proficient players or had a very good pre-production instructor; again, this is a plus for established golf fans.
But there is a great deal of insider lingo tossed around that only fans of the game will fully understand. If you know little to nothing about golf going in, it is likely to change after watching the movie.
Daddy Issues
Burns stars as Freddy Finnegan, a sports apparel CEO and the son of retired Irish pro golfer Jack Finnegan (Ian McElhinney). Theirs is a love-hate relationship with most of the friction stemming from the one-sided history of an age-old annual family tournament, the Finnegan Cup. Jack’s hasn’t lost it in decades, and Freddy has never won it.Conversely, Freddy’s novelist brother Teddy (Brian d’Arcy James) is much more easy going. The biggest concern in life is his current bout with writer’s block.
Not long after the start of the next gathering, Jack drops dead. As per Jack’s will, Freddy and Teddy are charged with traveling to Ireland and dispersing their father’s ashes at four specific locations.
The brothers figure that as long as they’re in Ireland, they should play the family tournament and crown a new champion. To complete the foursome, they draft Freddy’s son Frankie (Brian Muller) and Teddy’s daughter Marie (Erica Hernandez).
Visual Feast
Shot in Dublin, County Wicklow, and the acclaimed Belmullet’s Carne Golf Links in County Mayo, the movie is a visual feast. Not a director known for amazing cinematography, Burns, director of photography Jeff Muhlstock, and editor Janet Gaynor take what many consider to be a boring game and lend it relative excitement.Credit also to composer Seamus Egan whose score is comprised of ancient-sounding Irish-tinged instrumentals that harken back to the 1970s output of the traditional Irish folk ensemble, the Chieftains.
I tip my hat to Burns for coming up with an ending that, while not entirely likely, still came as something of a surprise.
As a golfer who now plays less than once a month but still follows it religiously on TV, I really wanted to love “Foursome” but could only manage to like it a bit.
There aren’t many great golf-related movies and even fewer that are worth your time. There’s “Caddyshack,” the first “Happy Gilmore,” “Tin Cup,” “Pat and Mike,” and “The Greatest Game Ever Played.”
If not for the swearing and excessive running time, “Foursome” could have been added to that short list but can only be borderline recommendable.
