As most now know, author J.R.R. Tolkien is responsible for some of the most popular and famous fantasy novels ever written – specifically, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The biopic Tolkien attempts to give viewers a glimpse into the man life and how his personal experiences shaped his stories. It’s a well-acted depiction that does eventually pay off emotionally at its close, although honestly it is hard to see how this story will appeal to anyone not already enamored with the scribe and his work.
The story intercuts between J.R.R. Tolkien (Nicholas Hoult) on the battlefield during WWI, and his earlier days as an orphan and young man. Father Francis (Colm Meaney), friend to the boy’s late mother, places the boy in a prestigious Birmingham academy, where he is initially ridiculed for being of a lower class. The movie shows his struggles and how he eventually wins over schoolmates and forms a close bond with Geoffrey (Anthony Boyle), Robert (Patrick Gibson) and Christopher (Tom Glynn-Carney). As he grows into a teenager, he also begins spending time with another orphan, Edith Bratt (Lily Collins). Tolkien shares his love of languages and imagination with her, struggling to keep his grades up and raising the ire of benefactor Francis.
For those fascinated with the figure, there are plenty of references to his famous works, with the character developing new languages in his spare time and talking about writing and the arts with his chums. The movie looks good and is beautifully shot as well, particularly during the eerie wartime scenes that feature the lead staring into the mustard gas-covered battlefields and seeing shapes in the distance that would inspire the dragons and other creatures featured in his writing.
However, there admittedly isn’t a whole lot of crisis occurring. Much of this story chronicles the time spent with his newly earned, upper-class buddies, falling for Edith Bratt, and considering whether he should start a life with her or follow the instruction of Father Francis. It’s all well-performed, but there isn’t a whole of significant conflict or tension in much of the first two-thirds of the film (that is, unless you consider Tolkien getting into trouble at school and switching majors the stuff of high drama). This is probably why the scenes set in the WWI trenches are far more interesting; these sequences feature Tolkien surrounded by death, suffering from trench fever, hoping to find his friends abroad, and trying to survive with fellow soldier Sam (Craig Roberts).
While it is slow-moving, at least the cast are all solid enough to start to eventually win viewers over by the close of the film. As Tolkien attempts to reconnect with his own personal fellowship and learns the fates of his buddies (of course, this all eventually inspires elements of his fictional works later in life), the movie does manage to at least build a bit of emotional momentum and sell some minor sniffles reasonably well.
In the end, Tolkien is a well-acted, impressively produced and perfectly capable biopic, featuring plenty of Middle Earth references. Yet it is also a film that may have some trouble appealing to those outside the subject’s core fanbase. Admittedly, it follows events in the writer’s life in a believable manner, but one wishes that the screenplay had a little more energy and perhaps has focused more on how his traumatic war experiences shaped and influenced the classic literature he would ultimately create.