This too could be hilarious, if we weren’t being invited to accept the character at face value as the salt of the earth. As things stand, he’s fascinating but not entirely human -- at least, not as human as Paddington Bear.

Suit-and-tie Mike worries about the gutter. Jean and the twins look to the stars. The man at the centre of it all, the husband, father and hoodwinker, is somewhere in between.

Can I recommend “The Phantom of the Open” regardless of whether you approach the ball as a convert or run fast in the other direction? Sure.

Maurice may be a duffer on the course but he ultimately makes a very winning personality on the screen.