Tolkien

This literary origin bio-pic centering on J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings) begins in 1916 in the muddy trenches of World War I, where shell-shocked Tolkien (Nicholas Hoult) searches for a friend during the Battle of the Somme, while imagining German flamethrowers as fire-breathing dragons. A flashback reveals that John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was orphaned with his younger brother. Penniless, they were entrusted to Father Francis Morgan (Colm Meaney), who enrolled the boys in King Edward’s School in Birmingham, and they boarded in the home of elderly Mrs. Faulkner (Pam Ferris). And that is where shy Tolkien falls in love with pianist Edith Bratt (Lily Collins), who introduces him to Wagner’s operas about “one ring to rule them all.” Tolkien also charms Edith with his own invented language, a precursor of Elvish. On scholarship at Oxford, Tolkien finds three artistic/intellectual friends (played by Tom Glynn-Carney, Patrick Gibson, and Anthony Boyle), and all form a secret society: the T.C.B.S.—Tea Club and Barrovian Society—to “change the world through the power of art.” Floundering in academia, Tolkien joins philologist Joseph Wright (Derek Jacobi) to study linguistics, which will set him on his famous career path. Finnish director Dome Karukoski unfortunately forsakes all fun for an all-too-respectful, flaccid, and flimsy fellowship tale. Optional. (S. Granger)