Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

Tolkien
2019
***
Director: Dome Karukoski
Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Colm Meaney, Derek Jacobi, Anthony Boyle, Patrick Gibson, Tom Glynn-Carney, Craig Roberts, Genevieve O'Reilly

This drama about J.R.R. Tolkien attempts to capture the dramatic circumstances that turned an orphan Catholic boy with a keen interest in languages into one of the biggest selling fantasy writers of all time. Just as Tolkien falls in love with a Protestant girl and finds his true calling, he and his tight-knit group of friends must face the trenches of the First World War. Literary biopic is not the most exciting genre, and this conventional film does not offer surprises. There is certainly very little here for the casual fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It is beautifully shot and well-acted, though.