The Hawk Review: Must-Watch Thriller?

Premiering July 16 on an undisclosed streamer, The Hawk follows Lonnie “The Hawk” Hawkins (Ferrell), a past-his-prime golf legend who decides to chase one final major championship. For a guy who probably should be selling timeshares in Palm Springs, Lonnie instead drags his dysfunctional family-long-suffering wife Stacy (Molly Shannon), obnoxious son Lance (Jimmy Tatro), and wisecracking caddie Sam (Fortune Feimster)-into the chaos of his delusional comeback. The series leans heavily on the idea that a man who once dominated the PGA Tour now can’t putt his way out of a windmill-themed mini-golf course, and it mines that premise for all six episodes.

Let’s get the elephant-or should I say hawk-out of the room: this is Will Ferrell doing what Will Ferrell does. He’s loud, he’s oblivious, and he’s got that signature “I’m an idiot who thinks I’m a genius” energy. That’s fine. It’s even fun in small doses. But The Hawk never gives him more than that. Lonnie’s entire personality is “washed-up golfer who doesn’t know he’s washed-up,” and after thirty minutes, you’ve seen the whole bird.

The cast is the show’s best asset. Molly Shannon brings that priceless “I can’t believe I married this man” weariness that she’s perfected over decades, and Jimmy Tatro-the MVP of this whole thing-plays Lance as a TikTok-obsessed influencer who thinks his dad’s career is a PR opportunity. His scenes are the most energetic, mostly because he’s the only character who seems to know he’s in a comedy. Fortune Feimster gets a few good zingers as Sam, the caddie who treats Lonnie’s shots like a hostage negotiation, but her character is criminally underused. She’s basically a walking palm-slap emoji.

The writing is the real problem. The Hawk wants to be Ted Lasso on a golf course-a feel-good story about a lovable loser who brings people together-but it forgets the “feel-good” part. Most episodes are just Lonnie being insufferable while his family rolls their eyes. There’s heart buried somewhere in episode five, where Stacy finally tells him off in a monologue that actually makes you care, but it’s too little, too late. By then, you’ve already watched four episodes of someone yelling “fore!” and expecting that to be the punchline.

The comedy itself is painfully broad. There’s a recurring joke about Lonnie hitting a golf ball into a porta-potty that gets three different variations. Three. If that sounds like your kind of humor, you’re in luck. If not, you’ll spend the episodes counting how many times someone says “on the back nine” as a metaphor for aging. (Spoiler: it’s a lot.)

Visually, the show looks fine. The golf courses are gorgeous, the cinematography is crisp, and the production value is solid. But you don’t watch a comedy for the scenery-unless that scenery is a funny background gag. There’s a moment where a pelican steals Lonnie’s lucky hat in episode three, and that’s genuinely the most inspired bit in the whole season. It’s downhill from there.

Pros

• Will Ferrell’s commitment to the bit, even when the bit is stale
• Molly Shannon and Jimmy Tatro are absolute scene-stealers
• Fortune Feimster deserves a bigger role next season
• The golf sequences are surprisingly well-shot and realistic
• Episode three’s pelican gag is pure comedy gold

Cons

• One joke stretched over six episodes gets old fast
• The writing leans on clichés (“I’m not done yet!” / “But Dad, you’re embarrassing us!”)
• Stacy’s emotional turn in episode five feels unearned
• The show doesn’t know if it’s a wacky comedy or a heartfelt dramedy
• By episode four, you’ll be Googling “best golf movies” instead

The Hawk is a mulligan of a series-you’ll want to take it back and try again. Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon, and Jimmy Tatro do their damnedest to save a script that’s content to play it safe, but the whole thing feels like a 30-minute sketch that got accidentally extended to a full season. Hardcore Ferrell fans might find enough silly moments to justify a binge, but for everyone else, this is a show that swings and misses. Watch the first episode, laugh at the pelican, and then go watch Happy Gilmore for the hundredth time instead. That movie’s still a better golf comedy, and it’s thirty years old.

Rating: ⛳⛳ out of five (That’s “two clubs short of a full bag”)