Directed by:
Dome KarukoskiCinematography:
Lasse FrankComposer:
Thomas NewmanCast:
Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Anthony Boyle, Patrick Gibson, Tom Glynn-Carney, Colm Meaney, Derek Jacobi, Craig Roberts, Harry Gilby, Ty Tennant (more)VOD (5)
Plots(1)
From childhood, Tolkien (Nicholas Hoult) discovers a passion for writing and studying philology, while drawing inspiration from the strong bond he shares with his three friends and their adventures together. However, the outbreak of WWI forces Tolkien into an overwhelming world of violence and bloodshed as he sets aside his incredible creative abilities to fight for his country, tearing him apart from his fellowship of friends, his wife Edith (Lily Collins) and threatening the course of his literary career. (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (7)
An intimate and honest account of the youth of the author of the most famous novels of the century. The story is not about “The Lord of the Rings” or “The Hobbit”, it’s about Tolkien, his love, his loss, his friendships and the major experiences and encounters that gave form to his imagination, his views over the question of good and evil and his relationship to language. If you don’t expect Hollywood celebratory chorals and grandiose artificial sequences, you’ll get a deeply felt and realistic portrayal of a commonly uncommon man that in a likeable manner represents the first figments of his famous works, the familiarity with which the creators expect in advance. Some of the emptier scenes made me realise that I would also like to see this biopic in those grandiose Hollywood hands, but I’m convinced Tolkien himself wouldn’t be offended by it. Nicholas Hoult is precise and Thomas Newman is fully charming again.
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I have mixed feelings about Tolkien. The running time was far from modest, yet typical of biopics, but the script was just weird. As far as the events in England were concerned, it was okay, but the war scenes seemed to have been written by someone under the influence (I'll leave it to the experts to determine what kind of influence). It annoyed me how much it focused on the creation of languages, while I didn't learn much about the life of the title character.
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If you see Tolkien as the architect of all the fantasy worlds you love so much, then you will think that this film is exactly for you. This is what I thought, at least. That’s why I was looking forward so much to this film. But what did I get? In my opinion, the most boring biographical film I have seen in a very long time. A total disappointment. The acting performances are good, Nicholas Hoult as the young Tolkien is alright, and Dome Karukoski is not a bad choice for this type of story either, as he has some experience under his belt. The problem, however, lies in the script. There are some interesting moments throwing some light on author’s books, but the result is incredibly boring. The story takes place during Tolkien’s studies. He met friends who influenced his fate. In the beginning, their club seems like the gathering of young elite of that time. It didn’t sit well with me. Over the time, the story began to focus on WWI and the battlefield shots didn’t look bad, but I didn’t want to watch a war movie but a biopic, so it didn’t sit well with me either. Tolkien didn’t deserve this, and it’s no wonder that his family washed their hands of this film.
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There should be one more film to bring Tolkien's biography to its conclusion. These are just the younger years and a reminder of the fact that even "The Lord of the Rings" is just a response to the horrors of the Great War. Like anything written by the Lost Generation, including A. A. Milne. And of course, before the war, everyone, without distinction, went on dates by taking their sweethearts to Wagner operas ;)
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A biographical film with classic editing, but I didn't mind. However, I have to complain about the portrayal of Tolkien's friends, who were important to the story, but all they way to the end they were more or less interchangeable. A pity. Nicholas Hoult is still sympathetic, though, and so is Lily Collins (and beautiful). I also liked how the screenwriters smuggled various Tolkien inspirations into the plot and how the director used shots here and there that recalled Peter Jackson's films.
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