Movie Review: 'Tolkien' Is a Surprising Delight

I am the last person I expected to be a huge of a biopic of The Hobbit creator J.R.R Tolkien, but here we are. As the mystical magic of the movies settled over me in a theater in Davenport, Iowa, I found myself almost instantly won over by the story of a supremely intelligent young orphan, haunted by the unexpected early death of his incredibly creative mother, Tolkien, the movie, crafts a vision of a man one might expect to create entire worlds from his remarkable imagination.

Nicolaus Hoult stars in Tolkien as John Ronald Reuell Tolkien, the oldest son of a peculiar young, single mother, Mabel (Laura Donnelly), a force of nature, even under a terrible movie wig. Laura Donnelly is a magnetic young actress who appears barely old enough to have had one, let alone two, children. We watch as her infectious spirit keeps her boys hopes up, even as they’ve lost their home and have fallen under the care of a stern priest, portrayed by the stalwart Colm Meaney.

Mabel Tolkien set a tone in her son’s life, and her unexpected death in the movie is a powerful moment that, is naturally, a transformative moment for Tolkien as a man, and a movie character. Her spirited storytelling by candlelight will become a driving influence in the life of young John Ronald, and her dragons, and magic will become his dragons and magic as he begins the long journey toward The Hobbit.

Mabel wasn’t the only influence on The Hobbit, however, as being taken in by a rich dowager leads Tolkien to a private boarding school where he meets the three friends who will form the basis for his future fellowship. Actors Adam Bregman, and Anthony Boyle share the role of Geoffrey Thomas, a quiet, poetic young man, and Tolkien’s first friend. Albie Marber, and Patrick Gibson are the younger, and older versions of Robert Gilson, Tolkien’s bully turned lifelong friend. And, finally, Ty Tennant, and Tom Glynn-Carney portray Christopher Wiseman, a budding composer, a possible romantic rival to his friend Tolkien.

The modest rivalry between Tolkien and Wiseman came for the affections of Edith Bratt, portrayed as a child by Mimi Keene, and as a budding adult by the brilliant Lily Collins. Edith was taken in by the same wealthy dowager as Tolkien and his younger brother, and the two grew up together with their attraction building to a slow boil over the years. Wiseman never really had a chance with Edith, but a pivotal series of scenes has Carney’s Christopher forcing Tolkien to confront his romantic fears.

I adore the way the characters in Tolkien speak. I don’t care if it is heightened and romantic, I want to have conversations about how art can and will transform the world. I remember conversations from my youth that were about the defining terms of friendship, and how such friendships strengthened the whole of a group. My friends and I had a name for our fellowship just as Tolkien and his friends did, and just as poignantly, my group dispersed over the years as well, albeit without the kind of finality provided by World War 1.

The structure of Tolkien, under the guiding hand of young director Dome Karukoski, jumps around in time from Toklien’s youth, and time at Oxford as a scholar, to his time in the trenches in the so-called "War to End All Wars." The structure worked for me as all of the flashes back and forth serve the purpose of giving life to a man who has fascinated readers for more than a century. What drives a man to create some of the most elaborate fantasy fiction in history, Tolkien, the movie, has a few ideas.

Romance, tragedy, a deep and abiding love of language and learning, these are the traits that created The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and the entirety of Tolkien's mythology, and Tolkien, the movie, captures that wonderfully. This biopic crafts a Tolkien who is wildly intelligent, deeply romantic, defined by tragedy, and also defined by the strength to overcome tragedy. It’s a brilliantly told story, and no, I don’t care if it is true or not, Tolkien works as a wonderfully entertaining bit of hagiography, and that’s fine for me.

I am going to be considered hypocritical for not caring about verisimilitude here when I have criticised other biopics for failing at portraying reality, but I would argue that movies like Bohemian Rhapsody,The Theory of Everything, and other similar hagiography weren’t nearly as intelligent, or entertaining as Tolkien. I have no idea if J.R.R Tolkien was actually a great man or not, but I would love for the character portrayed here to have been the real man, because the world needs this kind of thoughtful, charming, and imaginative people in it.

On top of being handsome, romantic, and poignantly humorous, Tolkien is also quite a handsome movie. Director Dome Karukoski is wonderfully aided by cinematographer Lasse Frank Johannessen, art director Paul Cowell, and Production Designer Grant Montgomery, each of whom deliver top notch work. I also can’t forget to praise the nimble editing of Harri Ylonen, who helps the film flow seamlessly from the beauty of early 1900’s England to the bloody trenches of France circa 1914.

Tolkien is a wonderful film, a surprisingly entertaining early 20th century coming of age story that is great to look at, and easy to enjoy. The characters are wonderfully charismatic, sensitive, and intelligent, and in the lead roles, Nicolaus Hoult and Lily Collins made my heart happy with their off the charts romantic chemistry. Is it all a little too perfect, are the allusions between the battlefields of France, and the battlefields of Mordor a little on the nose? Perhaps, but when a movie is this exciting in all other ways, I find it hard to complain too much.

It says something that I am not a devotee of Tolkien's fantasy world's, and yet I was riveted by his life story. I had a bad attitude going into this movie, worried that it would be an overlong, bloviating bore on par with the movies inspired by Tolkien's books. What an absolute delight to find a nimble, romantic, and humane life story with wit and heart in equal measure, and none of the elaborate bloat associated with Tolkien in pop culture.

It is said that the family of J.R.R Tolkien have admonished the makers of Tolkien, refusing to give their blessing to the movie. It should be noted however, that the Tolkien family has rejected numerous attempts to bring Tolkien's life to the big screen. The Tolkien Family has, in fact, stated that they have not seen this movie and won't see it on principle. They don't object to anything specific here, just the very existence of the movie, so don't let that stop you from seeing Tolkien.