Tommy's Honour

With sixty million golfers on the planet, you would expect a movie about the early history of golf to delight audiences all over the world. The game is rich in tradition and a spectacle for big-money professional sport. The historical drama Tommy's Honour (2016) has much to offer for die-hard lovers of the sport, but most other audiences may find it rather dull.

The twin narrative inter-weaves the story of golf with the legend of the 'Two Tommies', the father and son team credited with launching the modern version of the sport. Set in 1860s Scotland, gruff Old Tom Morris (Peter Mullan) is groundsman for the famous St. Andrews Golf Club and he pioneered the early rules of the game including the 18-hole course standard. His 15-year old son Young Tommy (Jack Lowden) has grown up with game and becomes a better golfer than his record-holding father. When he beats his father's record, tensions boil over and Tommy wants to go his own way while Tom clings to past ways. The young champion tours the country winning match after match, and collecting more prizemoney and social respectability than his father ever dreamed of. When Tommy falls for Meg (Ophelia Lovibond), an 'older woman with a past', the family is torn apart.

The story reveals several fascinating things about golf, including how the once-exclusive Gentleman's Club sport became opened to universal participation and how big-money gambling was integral to the game. The primitive early equipment, the feather-stuffed hand-stitched leather balls, and the cow-paddock roughness of the course are interesting insights into the origins of modern golf. While the period sets, costumes and historical depictions have high production value, the characterisations and melodramatic performances leave the story muddled, tedious and repetitious. Old Tom is portrayed as a cantankerous domineering father who is difficult to like, especially for his regular rants against Tommy's behaviour. His Scottish accent is so strong that many people will miss much of what he says. Young Tommy is the likable one, although his attitudes to parental and aristocratic authority are far too modern for a working-class boy of 19th century Scotland. The dynamic between them is unremarkable and predictable, and the romance is subdued and uninspiring even though Meg provides the film's aesthetic high point. The backbone of the story comprises the various games that Tommy inevitably wins, the monotony of which can quickly wilt the patience of both golfers and non-golfer audiences.

The decision to spend so much of the film watching the primitive golf games of yesteryear has robbed the story of any narrative tension. As an historical drama, it shows how sport has potential to break down class barriers although today's private clubs would not agree. Anyone who loves and plays the game will wince at the sight of the early conditions under which it was played, but viewers unconnected with golf may struggle to stay awake with this one.

"Tommy's Honour" (2016 release from Scotland; 115 min.) brings the story of father and son Tommy and Tommy Jr. Morris. As the movie opens, a reporter from the Times of London wants to interview Tommy, by now an old man. But Tommy informs the reporter that the only story he is willing to give him, is about a young man. We then go back in time to the 1860s, and we learn that the young man referred to is Tommy Jr., an up-and-coming lad who loves the game of golf. His dad is a the groundskeeper of the local golf club and started the Open Championship. Along the way, we get to know other characters, including an aristocrat for whom the Morris lads play organized golf, and a young waitress who catches Tommy Jr.'s eye. At this point we are 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the big screen adaptation of the book of the same name by Kevin Cook(who co-wrote the movie's script). The director is Jason Connery (yes, son of Scottish icon Sean Connery, and best known for his acting work in UK TV and movies). The movie is a mix of sports movie, family drama, romance, and war of the classes. The tensions between father and son are the most obvious, with the older Morris sticking to the 'agreed' behavior between working class and aristocrats, while young Tommy is eager to break the rules. When he pushes for a better financial arrangement, the Captain of the golf club sneers "Your station in life was set well before you were born", and later on (when Tommy wins yet another major golf event) "You're a hero to this town, but a gentleman you will never be", ouch! I found the movie a bit lightweight, to be honest, as those tensions never really feel real. It isn't until much later in the movie (when Tommy Jr.'s love life becomes the focus) that we feel emotionally involved. Along the way, the gorgeous photography (entirely filmed on location of course) makes this movie feel like one long advert for the beauty that is Scotland. The acting performances are fine: Peter Mullan as Old Tom Morris, Jack Lowden as Tommy Morris, and none other than Sam Neil as the Captain/villain aristocrat.

"Tommy's Honour" opened in US theaters this weekend. I imagine it's not a coincidence that this is the very weekend after the Masters, the Super Bowl of golf when interest in the game is at its peak in the US. This is an okay movie, in particular if you has a special interest in golf. I found it to be pleasant, nothing more, nothing else.

In 1800s England and Scotland "Gentleman" was a reference of being of privilege, and usually wealth. Golf was run by the elite, only "gentleman" were allowed inside clubhouses. The golf pro was a step down, a workman, he built clubs and manufactured balls and kept the golf course in good shape.

Old Tom Morris, a Scotsman, is often considered the first golf professional. While golf existed before he came along he made his mark as a champion golfer and course designer. But his son, Young Tommy Morris, born in 1851, was a better golfer who won The Open four consecutive times, but died at age 24, just a few weeks after his wife and newborn son died. He was a bright flame, a meteor.

This movie is about the father and son Morris, but focuses a bit more on Young Tommy, his love affair with an older woman who became his wife, and how he changed the trajectory of golf professionals. Until he came along the gentlemen used a golfer much like one might use a race horse, get him into a good match, pay him a small sum, and make lots of money off his winning matches.

Young Tommy changed that, he would demand a greater sum for himself. He could do that because everyone knew he was the best and if he decided not to play then there would be no winnings for the elite.

This is a very good movie that paints his life pretty faithfully, although there is a disclaimer at the end stating that many things were fictionalized for dramatic purposes. I think every die-hard golfer, like me, would enjoy this movie, and maybe even many who are not golfers.

I watched it at home on the Kanopy site through my public library's subscription, streamed via Roku.

While the Morris family did not invent golf, they did create a following for it. This movie is based upon a true story. While I find it rather primitive to grow up in 19th century, that is when this story happened. It was a time of classes! You had your rich, born with a silver spoon in your mouth, upper class. Then you had the poor servants, such as the waitress, the golf grounds keeper and his family. Old Tom Morris was the grounds keeper for the premier golf course in Scotland. Young Tom Morris was his son, who reached for the stars and demanded respect as well as being treated as an equal! Together they were the best golfing pair in the world!!

Jason Connery (Sean's son) directs this story about old Tom Morris and his son Tommy written by Pamela Martin from the book by Kevin Cook. It's a bit surprising that the story focuses as much or more on the melodrama and personal story of the younger Tommy than the historical influences, but there is links action to give us a feel for the times.

Jack Lowden and his dimples portray Tommy, while Ophelia Lovibond plays his love interest Meg. Their relationship drives the story, and we are reminded that small-minded people were every bit as prevalent 140 years ago as they are now. Tommy's mother, their community, and even the minister of the Church pass harsh judgment on Meg and her unfortunate past. Combine that with the element of "Gentlemen", which are anything but, and we get an understanding of how Tommy's actions changed not just the game of golf, but also influenced the softening of the class difference. His push to bring respect and fairness to professional golfers erased the similarities with how race horses and golfers were treated the same from a wagering perspective.

This was the time of the original "13 Rules of Golf", and when rowdy crowd hovered right next to the golfers as they played. Other than the closing credit graphics, Old Tom Morris (Peter Mullan) isn't really given his due as a course designer, but this is really the story of his son, and though the film is a bit too long, it's a story that deserves to be told.