Directed by Dome Karukoski and featuring Nicholas Hoult as J. R. R. Tolkien, as a young man who would later become one of the world's greatest and most celebrated fiction writers.
The film also features great performances from Lily Collins, Colm Meaney, and Derek Jacobi.
The film chronicles Tolkien's life beginning as a poor orphan and onto his time spent attending a preppy boarding school where he forges valuable friendships with other like-minded, artistic boys.
The film shows chronic flashes of Tolkien as a soldier fighting to survive in the trenches and killing fields of WWI. The film basically concludes after the end of WWI.
Throughout the entire film, we, the audience, are only given small brief glimpses, or hints rather of Tolkien's genius or his future fame as a fantasy writer. At the very end of the film, we see Tolkien put pen to paper and begin writing "The Hobbit."
I felt that these small hints at his genius and his work were a very weak way to convey the artistic genius of a great man. I felt that the rigid structure of the biopic formula did not service the man or his story. The film ended up feeling mechanical and very unartistic, simply providing a history of key events. It was rather boring and uninspiring to go to as a writer looking for a little inspiration. I don't think J.R.R. would much like the film, either. It would have been much better to have his Elvish language spoken in the film in more than one tiny scene because it's such a crucial element of the film and because "show don't tell" is a much more compelling way to write a script. I would've liked to see passages of "The Hobbit" or "Lord of the Rings" read as well.
"Midnight in Paris" Woody Allen's comedy about a man who steps back in time and befriends famous writers, painters and artists was much more intriguing and provided an actual glimpse into the genius's creative mind.
I'm hoping that someone will make another biopic of Tolkien, for this great author most assuredly deserves one.
Rating: C
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