TOMMY’S HONOUR
An affecting golf drama about repentance, forgiveness, and putting first things first.
Should You Watch It?
TOMMY’S HONOUR makes 19th-century golf engaging through affecting performances, strong chemistry, and Jason Connery’s ability to give the sport dramatic energy. More importantly, it takes repentance, forgiveness, family, and the danger of making a good thing your highest thing seriously.
The film is not morally uncomplicated. Alcoholism is depicted realistically, gambling receives little moral commentary, and premarital sex and its consequences are part of the story. Some church behavior is also treated irreverently. Those concerns call for parental discernment, especially with younger viewers.
If your family includes mature older children or adults who can discuss those elements thoughtfully, this is well worth watching. For younger children, choose something else.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESIn 1860s and 1870s Scotland, Old Tom Morris and his son, Young Tommy, are credited with revolutionizing modern golf. Old Tom’s life is centered on the course, while Young Tommy wants to become a professional golfer and challenge the social order that limits respect to wealthy “gentlemen.”
As Young Tommy’s talent grows, father and son clash over golf, class, love, and the choices that shape a family. Their difficult relationship becomes a story about what deserves first place in life.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means TOMMY’S HONOUR is a good, worthwhile drama with some imperfections. The actors give affecting performances, and Peter Mullan and Jack Lowden bring convincing chemistry to the father-and-son relationship.
The script is engaging, especially as the story explores the changing relationship between Old Tom and Young Tommy. Director Jason Connery also makes the golf exciting, an important achievement for a nearly two-hour movie built around a 19th-century sport. The film’s moral themes give the drama lasting weight.
The Worldview
TOMMY’S HONOUR presents Christianity as a positive moral force. It emphasizes repentance, forgiveness, family, Christian example, stewardship, the Sabbath, Heaven, and church. The film also warns against allowing golf—or any created thing—to become an idol.
Its characters are morally complicated. Young Tommy begins as morally and religiously questionable but changes after marriage. Old Tom is presented as a model of Christian maturity until his devotion to golf and his desire to preserve his glory lead him into choices that damage his family. The film’s treatment of premarital sex, gambling, and alcohol is less morally direct, presenting some of these realities with limited commentary. The Morris family’s mockery of a minister during a sermon is also troubling, even though the minister’s statement could be questioned theologically.
At its heart, the film longs for reconciliation. Young Tommy forgives his father, and the Morris family eventually reconciles with Meg. Scripture calls believers to this same posture: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Strong Christian elements of repentance, forgiveness, and the importance of family, marred by some light Romantic elements, three church services depicted on screen including a wedding, Bible read twice, a reference to golf becoming an idol, characters make positive references to “Christian example,” “Sabbath,” stewardship, Heaven, and church, but also a light profane use of God’s Name and the word “Halleluiah,” a joking reference that two people are “past salvation,” and a child sticks his tongue out at a minister during a church service, plus some light patriotic elements of Scottish vs. English; two obscenities, one profanity, and calling a lady a “tart”; light violence includes two fistfights, the beginning of another fight, and a reference to “hack(ing) off” someone’s forehead”; two cases of implied fornication and a reference to prior fornication, references to prostitution, some kissing; no nudity, but two men strip to long-johns to swim; substantial alcoholism including 10 depictions of drinking on-screen and three off-screen, a flask and wine glasses are shown; one scene of tobacco smoke drifting onto the screen, but smoking is not shown; and, strong gambling elements onscreen and off (seven references), and a mildly racist reference to a “red Indian.”
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Old Tom allows golf to become more important than his family. What good thing could become too important in your own life?
Matthew 6:21 · 1 Timothy 4:8Young Tommy’s relationship with his father is marked by hurt, repentance, and forgiveness. What does genuine forgiveness require, and how is it different from pretending nothing happened?
Ephesians 4:32 · Colossians 3:13Young Tommy resists a social system that gives respect mainly to people born into wealth and status. How does Scripture tell us to treat people of different social classes?
James 2:1–4 · Galatians 3:28The film presents repentance as part of restoring what has been broken. What is the difference between feeling sorry and turning back to God?
2 Corinthians 7:10 · Acts 3:19The Final Word
TOMMY’S HONOUR is a thoughtful, well-acted historical drama with an explicitly Christian message about repentance and forgiveness. Its alcohol, gambling, premarital-sex references, and light profanity call for discernment with younger viewers. For mature older children and adults, it is WORTH THE TRIP — OLDER CHILDREN AND ADULTS.
