Susan Granger’s review of “Tommy’s Honour” (Roadside Attractions)
It’s not easy to make an enthralling movie about golf. Ron Shelton came close with “Tin Cup,” starring Kevin Costner. Now, Jason Connery has come up with this 19th century drama about pioneers of the modern game: Tom Morris, known as Old Tom, and his son, Young Tommy.
Supporting his family of six, Old Tom (Peter Mullan) works as humble greenskeeper, caddy and instructor at Scotland’s renowned Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, where he’s known as a superb competitor and four-time winner of the British Open.
So it’s not surprising that Young Tom (Jack Lowden) makes his auspicious amateur debut in 1868 at the age of 17. Rebelling against authority, epitomized by the United Kingdom’s stratified class division, he’s determined to become a professional golfer, rather than lugging clubs, teeing up balls and catering to ill-mannered aristocrats.
“Your station in life was set before you were born,” chides the club captain (Sam Neill).
Inspired by Kevin Cook’s 2007 book of the same name, it’s adapted by Cook with (his wife) Pamela Marin and directed by Jason Connery (son of Sean Connery), who utilizes the rugged magnificence of Scotland’s rustic links which form a stark contrast to today’s well-manicured courses.
Challenging Establishment tradition with innovation, they pivot the generational struggles between a dour, deferential father and a willful, ambitious son, throwing in additional conflict when Young Tom falls in love with Meg Drinnen (Ophelia Lovibond), a spunky older woman with a scandalous past.
Neither Mullan nor Lowden are real-life golfers, although Connery tries hard to disguise their ineptitude.
FYI: Old Tom designed 70 courses, including Carnoustie, Muirfield, Prestwick, Royal County Down and Royal Dornoch. Young Tom died at the age of 24 but still holds the title as youngest major champion of all time. Both father and son were inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Tommy’s Honour” scores a slow-paced, sporting 6. Too bad it was released before Father’s Day because that’s when the marketing would have soared.
