Ivan Radford | On 08, Jun 2025

It feels like a long time since Owen Wilson has been on our screens. Despite a winning turn in Marvel’s Loki a couple of years ago, it’s been four long years since he appeared in The French Dispatch and nine years since he reprised his role of Hansel in the underwhelming Zoolander 2. It’s perhaps apt, then, that his latest TV show – Apple TV+’s Stick – should see him play someone looking for a chance at a comeback.

Wilson plays Pryce Cahill, a former gold pro who had a breakdown mid-tournament when he was on the verge of becoming a truly great star of the game – and is now a legend for entirely the wrong reasons. Working on a golf course, he hustles to sell kit to players, flashing about a sub-par business card with a slogan on it (“the Pryce is right”) that doesn’t make sense. In between chasing advances on his commission, he gives lessons to wealthy pensioners and meets up with his friend Mitts (Marc Maron) in pubs where they hustle punters for money by betting whether he can make a putt. All of which means that no, of course he hasn’t moved on from divorce to ex-wife Amber-Linn (Judy Greer) – literally, because he’s still living in their old house.

And so when he spies a teenager with a dynamite club action sneaking into the driving range, he smells an opportunity to make some money, redeem his name and rediscover his zeal for life. “You like golf, but you’re afraid that she might not like you,” he coos to the alarmed Santi (Peter Dager), who has his own reasons for not wanting to take golf seriously. “Golf loves you,” he insists to his would-be mentee. Sure enough, after persuading Santi’s mum, Elena (Mariana Treviño), he’s on course to take Santi on a road trip round several tournaments and qualify for the US amateur championships.

Before you can say “Ted Lasso”, things are clicking into place to make for a sweet ensemble comedy full of people hoping for second chances in life. Father issues, parental grief, loneliness, a sense of purpose – all the familiar buttons are pressed by creator Jason Keller, who has previously penned Ford v Ferrari, and they’re pressed with unashamedly large sticks made out of cheese. The result never quite tees off with the same hilarity or consistency as Apple’s footballing hit, but there’s heart aplenty to draw you in.

A large part of that comes down to the cast. Marc Maron’s hangdog charisma is a nice counter to Mariana Treviño’s eager enthusiasm – and Judy Greer is, as always, excellent as Pryce’s frustrated, tolerant former partner, who knows him well enough to know when he will and won’t listen to her legal threats. Peter Dager, meanwhile, has just the right balance of ego and insecurity to sell a young boy with oodles of talent but zero maturity. Owen Wilson, meanwhile, shines in the role of Pryce, bringing nuance, sadness, regret, hope and passion to the screen but never overplaying his hand – it’s a triumph of subtlety that manages the deceptively difficult task of undercutting the script’s potential for becoming saccharine, without losing an ounce of sincerity.

Golf has never been a thrilling game to watch, so for Stick to succeed is no mean feat. The show knows to wear its heart on its sleeve and let its antihero take a swing. The result is a feel-good comedy that drives for the heart. It might be middle of the fairway, but it’s simply a delight to watch Wilson in action. He never went away, but it’s a joy to see him in a leading part once again.

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