Tolkien (2019) [Blu-ray]
Biography | Drama | War
Tagline: A Life of Love, Courage, and Fellowship
As a young student, J.R.R. Tolkien finds love, friendship and artistic inspiration among a group of fellow outcasts. Their brotherhood soon strengthens as Tolkien weathers the storm of a tumultuous courtship with Edith Bratt and the outbreak of World War
I. These early life experiences later inspire the budding author to write the classic fantasy novels "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings."
Storyline: Tolkien explores the formative years of the orphaned author as he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration among a group of fellow outcasts at school. This takes him into the outbreak of World War I, which
threatens to tear the "fellowship" apart. All of these experiences would inspire Tolkien to write his famous Middle-Earth novels. Written by Fox Searchlight Pictures
Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, August 9, 2019 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien has one of the most recognizable names, or at least surnames, in the entire annals of literature, and there may be some fans of his
most noted works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, who may feel like that surname sounds very much like a character or location in one of those very works. Despite the ubiquitous recognition of Tolkien's name, how many fans really know
all that much about the man? Saliently, how many fans could correctly identify what the "J.R.R." stands for? (In a similar fashion, and indeed with regard to another author famous for creating a labyrinthine world of his own populated with all sorts of
outlandish creatures, how many folks could correctly identify what the "R.R." in the creator of Game of Thrones stands for?)* That lack of true intimate knowledge about Tolkien may provide ample reason for a biographical film about the famed
author, but kind of like Tolkien's work themselves, Tolkien seems to harken back to a distant age, perhaps in this particular example not some distant, mist enshrouded Middle Earth, but Hollywood's Golden Era. For Tolkien is a big,
glossy, and perhaps somewhat fusty account of Tolkien's life. It's often sumptuously beautiful in some of its recreations of a now arcane English way of life, and it's equally harrowing in its depiction of the horrors Tolkien witnessed during his World
War I experiences, but despite some obvious attempts (and arguably a few successes) in connecting emotionally with both its focal subject and the ostensible audience, there's the same distancing, almost mythologizing, aspect to this biography that often
attends films about vaunted historical figures.
Even those without a ton of knowledge about Tolkien may be passingly aware of what an impact the so-called "Great War" had on him, and the conflict provides an anchor of sorts for this tale, one that offers Tolkien (Nicholas Hoult) appearing perhaps
slightly unbalanced from the trench warfare in which he finds himself. The film manages to deliver an almost picayune amount of information via an opening montage of sorts that sees a perhaps seriously ill Tolkein drifting in and out of memory as he lies,
sick, in a blood soaked World War I ditch. That allows Tolkien to virtually elide years in the author's early life, years that saw him and his brother Hilary (played by Guillermo Bedward and James MacCallum at different ages) orphaned and placed
under the care of the imperious if well meaning Father Francis Morgan (Colm Meaney).
A bit of class consciousness intrudes once Tolkien (played as a youth by Harry Gilby) gets into a tony boarding school, but perhaps predictably, early skirmishes turn into lasting friendships, with an aggregation dubbed The Tea Club and Barrovian Society
resulting. The film does at least an adequate job of depicting the camaraderie between Tolkien and three of his best buddies, but it also wants to deal with Tolkien's nascent interest in language (including his own invented language) and a
budding romance with a beautiful young woman named Edith Bratt (Lily Collins). All of this plot material has to compete with the film's repeated returns to Tolkien surviving World War I, with a somewhat lurching ambience arguably interrupting
momentum.
As I watched Tolkien, I frankly wished I knew more about the real story of the man, as I frankly wondered how and what was subject to the seemingly unavoidable "fictionalization" that seems to accrue to this kind of biographical film.
While some aspects, notably the friendship between Tolkien and Geoffrey (Anthony Boyle), Christopher (Tom Glynn-Carney), and Robert (Patrick Gibson) seems to be at least generally accurate from what I've read in preparation for writing this review, I'm
not so sure about other aspects, including an interesting but perhaps needlessly melodramatic subplot featuring Tolkien's World War I acolyte, Sam Hodges (Craig Roberts). The film's representation of the love story between Tolkien and Edith is sweet, but
again has certain melodramatic aspects added, especially when Father Morgan puts his foot down and insists Tolkien study his books rather than Edith.
If Tolkien is unabashedly old fashioned, even if some of its depictions of wartime are certainly more graphic than would have been allowed back in the heyday of the Hollywood studio system, it does ultimately manage to deliver some real emotion,
even if some of the lumps in the throat may feel like they got there via pretty obvious manipulation. Hoult is very appealing throughout the film, as is Collins, and the supporting cast, which includes Derek Jacobi as a mentor, is colorful and
distinctive.
Tolkien does manage to touch the heart as it gives an at times fairly surface deep overview of this iconic author's life. The film may best be approached as an introduction rather than a final statement, and as such it suffices rather well, with
some impressive performances and a handsome if occasionally harrowing production design. Technical merits are solid, and Tolkien comes Recommended.
[CSW] -2.6-This reviewer said summed it up better than I could:
Tolkien is an interesting film if you care about the subject matter. If you're a true fan of his writing like I am, it sometimes even feels magical to watch. When you look at the movie objectively, however, it feels like it thinly treats a lot
of the subject matter. One line of criticism, for example, is that it skips over the author's Christianity, which was essential to his identity. If you're a Tolkien fan, it will be enjoyable. If not, it'll likely feel completely average.
I didn't know any of Tolkien the author's history. Having never read the books and only seen the movies, I found this film completely average.
[V5.0-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box
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