''Tommy's Honour'' is a 2016 List of historical drama films, historical drama film depicting the lives and careers of, and the complex relationship between, the pioneering Scottish golfing champions Old Tom Morris and his son Young Tom Morris. The film is directed by Jason Connery, and the father and son are portrayed by Peter Mullan and Jack Lowden. The film won Best Feature Film at the 2016 British Academy Scotland Awards.
The screenplay, written by Pamela Marin and Kevin Cook, is based on Cook's 2007 book, ''Tommy's Honor: The Story of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, Golf's Founding Father and Son''.
[ The book won the List of golf awards#United States Golf Association, Herbert Warren Wind Book Award as the best golf book of 2007,][ was one of the five books that ''Sports Illustrated'' selected as the "Books of the Year" in 2007, and was #32 of "the 50 best sports books ever written" selected by ''The Daily Telegraph, The Telegraph''.
The film opened the 2016 Edinburgh International Film Festival on 15 June 2016. It went into theatrical release in the U.S. and internationally beginning in the spring of 2017.
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Plot
In St Andrews, Scotland in 1866, 15-year-old Young Tom Morris, Tommy Morris (Jack Lowden) is an avid golfer like his legendary and pioneering father, Old Tom Morris, Tom Morris (Peter Mullan). "Old Tom" is greens-keeper for The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, as well as the town's club- and ball-maker. He is the two-time winner of the first major golf tournament, The Open Championship, which was founded in 1860 by James Ogilvie Fairlie, Tom's mentor. He also established golf's standard of 18 holes per round. But young Tommy is beginning to chafe at his father's dictates, especially in the rapidly changing world they live in.
Tommy soon outshines his father, winning The Open three times in a row while still in his teens. The "dashing young man of golf", he draws flocks of spectators to the sport and becomes its first touring professional.
Father and son repeatedly clash over the unwritten rules of social class, and this culminates when Tommy marries his sweetheart Meg (Ophelia Lovibond), a woman of lower standing with a shameful secret in her past. As the story concludes, Old Tom makes a fatal misjudgement that strips Tommy of everything he holds dear. Following the results of that fateful choice, Old Tom takes on a personal mission that carries him through the final decades of his life: that of honouring his son Tommy.
Main cast
*Peter Mullan as Old Tom Morris, a pioneering and legendary golfing champion
*Jack Lowden as Young Tom Morris, Tommy Morris, Old Tom's son and an expert golfer in his own right
*Ophelia Lovibond as Meg Drinnen, the woman Tommy loves
*Sam Neill as Alexander Boothby, the Captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews
Production
In 2010 producer Jim Kreutzer happened to read Kevin Cook's List of golf awards#United States Golf Association, Herbert Warren Wind Book Award–winning 2007 book ''Tommy's Honor: The Story of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, Golf's Founding Father and Son'', and immediately obtained the film rights for it.[McEwan, Michael]
"‘My dad is excited about my new movie’"
''Bunkered''. 12 February 2014.[ The project remained in development for several years, while Kreutzer did further research and interviewed people in Scotland who knew the story well.][Southwell, Tim]
"''Tommy's Honour'' – The Movie"
''Golf Punk''. 5 August 2015. The author Cook's wife Pamela Marin, an accomplished journalist and memoirist, adapted the book into a screenplay along with Cook.["''Tommy’s Honor''"]
''ShowFilmFirst.com''. 21 January 2014.
In January 2014 Jason Connery, son of Sean Connery, was announced as the film's director.[Williams, Martin]
"Film to tell story of golf legend Morris"
''The Herald (Glasgow), The Herald''. 13 January 2014. He stated:
Connery also noted that his father, a serious golfer in addition to being a renowned actor, gave him ideas and insight about making the film.[
Kreutzer, along with venture capitalist Keith Bank, established Gutta Percha Productions for the sole purpose of financing and producing ''Tommy's Honour''.]["About Us"]
''TommysHonour.com''. Retrieved 14 June 2016. The film's additional producers are Bob Last, Tim Moore, and Kenneth C. Whitney.[ In June 2015 the production received a £400,000 grant from National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lottery Funding through Creative Scotland's Screen Production Fund.][
The two lead actors, Peter Mullan and Jack Lowden, were cast in July 2015. Neither had prior experience with golf,][Strege, John]
"''Tommy’s Honour'' begins filming in Scotland, but with actors unfamiliar with golf"
''Golf Digest''. 20 August 2015. although Lowden had done several leading roles as an athlete or soldier, in ''Black Watch (play), Black Watch'', ''Chariots of Fire (play), Chariots of Fire'', and ''The Passing Bells''.
Filming began in mid-August 2015,[ and was completed in late September 2015. All filming took place on location in Scotland, in over 50 locations including in St Andrews and surrounding areas, Edinburgh and Musselburgh, and towns such as Peebles and Falkland, Fife, Falkland.][ The shoot lasted six weeks, but there was rain on only one day, which is unusual for Scotland.
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Release
''Tommy's Honour'' was selected to open the 2016 Edinburgh International Film Festival on 15 June 2016, which was the film's premiere.["Book Now: Edinburgh International Film Festival Announces the World Premiere of ''Tommy's Honour'' as the 2016 Opening Night Gala"]
Edinburgh International Film Festival. 27 April 2016.[Films 2016 – Events at EIFF 2016 on Wed 15 June]
Edinburgh International Film Festival. Retrieved 14 June 2016. At the festival it was also nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film. It continued screening at the festival through 26 June.[Pringle, Fiona]
"Stars flock to premiere for St Andrews golf movie"
''Fife Today''. 15 June 2016. The film also screened at London Screenings at BFI Southbank, an international film-marketing conference for British films which lasted from 20 to 23 June 2016. Sean Connery, who was unable to attend the EIFF debut of his son's film, screened ''Tommy's Honour'' in a cinema near his home in the Bahamas in July 2016.[Ferguson, Brian]
"Sir Sean Connery to get Bahamas screening of son’s film"
''The Scotsman''. 15 June 2016.
The film showed at the Dinard British Film Festival in Dinard, France from 28 September to 2 October 2016. It screened at the Haifa International Film Festival in mid-October 2016, and at the BBC First (Australia), BBC First British Film Festival 2016 in Australia, which began in late October 2016.
Roadside Attractions acquired the U.S. rights to ''Tommy's Honour'' in September 2016.[McNary, Dave]
"Golfing Origins Movie ''Tommy’s Honour'' Lands at Roadside Attractions"
''Variety (magazine), Variety''. 22 September 2016.[ It opened nationwide in the U.S. on 14 April 2017.][N'Duka, Amanda]
"Roadside Attractions Picks Up ''Tommy’s Honour''; Golf Pic Set For March Release"
''Deadline Hollywood, Deadline''. 22 September 2016.[ It was released internationally in the spring of 2017,]["''Tommy’s Honor'' Nominated For ..."]
''Daily North Shore''. 19 October 2016. and international sales of the film are handled by Timeless Films.[ The film was released via streaming video and DVD in June and July 2017 in the U.S.
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Reception
Initial reviews immediately following the film's debut at the Edinburgh International Film Festival were generally positive.[Pulver, Andrew]
"''Tommy's Honour'' review – well-pitched performances bring golf biopic up to par"
''The Guardian''. 24 June 2016.[ The performances of the two leads, Mullan and Lowden, were widely praised.][Anderson, Matthew]
"Edinburgh 2016: ''Tommy's Honour'' Review"
''Cine Vue''. June 2016.[ A few reviewers felt that the film may have tried to do too much due to having several themes,][Macnab, Geoffrey]
''The Independent''. 15 June 2016.
[Gosney, Kieran]
"The 70th Edinburgh International Film Festival: Day One"
''The 405''. 15 June 2016. and a few felt that some of the golfing sequences were repetitive.
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 67% approval rating based on 83 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. According to Metacritic, which sampled 22 critics and calculated a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average score of 56 out of 100, the film received "mixed or average reviews".
''Screen Daily'', while acknowledging the film's central father-son drama, also noted the portrayal of the class conflicts of 19th-century golf – played by the lower classes, attended by unruly crowds, and owned and bet on by aristocrats who controlled and profited from the sport. The review also opined that "As the principals play across the film's varied locations, in all weather, viewers get a true sense of golf's real grit, a more essential and raw essence of the sport than is achieved in most coverage today."
Kate Muir in ''The Times'' concluded that the film is "fairly conventional, and your pleasure in it will probably be predicated on your love for the game." Conversely, Ross Miller in ''The National (Scotland), The National'' called the film "emotional, inspiring and deeply heartfelt" and wrote "You don’t have to be a golf fan to be taken in by this engrossing, quietly passionate film that not only brings something new to the sports biopic table but also serves as a poignant, often heartbreaking portrait of paternal love and pursuing your passion with everything you have."[Miller, Ross]
"Film Review: A plot full of holes"
''The National (Scotland), The National''. 17 June 2016. In January 2017, Justin Lowe in ''The Hollywood Reporter'' said the film "offers an engrossing and accessible celebration of the game’s modern origins, enhanced by striking locations and a standout cast."
In November 2016 ''Tommy's Honour'' won Best Feature Film at the 2016 British Academy Scotland Awards (BAFTA Scotland Awards).["Crime drama ''Shetland'' triumphs at Bafta Scotland"]
''BBC News''. 7 November 2016.[Kyle, Gregor]
"Jason Connery breaks down in tears as he takes Scottish Bafta for best feature film"
''Glasgow Live''. 7 November 2016. Jack Lowden was nominated for Best Film Actor for his performance as Tommy Morris.[British Academy Scotland Awards: Nominees in 2016]
2016 BAFTA Scotland. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
Awards
References
External links
*
Official trailer
*
''Tommy's Honour''
at the British Council
{{Old and Young Tom Morris, state=collapsed
2016 films
2016 biographical drama films
2010s historical drama films
2010s sports drama films
2016 independent films
British biographical drama films
British historical drama films
British sports drama films
Films directed by Jason Connery
Films set in Scotland
Films set in the 1860s
Films set in the 1870s
Golf films
Sports films based on actual events
Biographical films about sportspeople
Films about families
Films shot in Scotland
Films shot in Edinburgh
Films shot in Fife
Films shot in the Scottish Borders
Films shot in East Lothian
Films set in Edinburgh
Cultural depictions of golfers
2010s English-language films
2010s British films