Jeri Jacquin
Coming to theatres this Friday from director Dome Karukoski
and Fox Searchlight Pictures comes the story of stories told about the life of
TOLKIEN.
The story begins with war as Private Sam Hodges (Craig
Roberts) finds a very ill Tolkien and makes it his mission to help him survive.
Out in the field as bombs rage and gas explodes, he once again sees how his
life began and led him to the field of inhumanity.
J.R.R. Tolkien (Nicholas Hoult) was a young man living with
his mother and brother in a small English house in the middle of vast fields.
One day Father Francis (Colm Meaney) helps the family move to the city to start
again but it doesn’t last long as once again Father Francis moves Tolkien and
his younger brother to the house of Mrs. Faulkner (Pam Ferris). Becoming their
guardian, she starts with the boys’ education and Tolkien dives deeper into his
drawings and writings.
Eventual Mrs. Faulkner takes in Edith Bratt (Lily Collins)
and Tolkien is quite taken with her. Continuing to be watched over by Father
Francis, the young man is told that he can’t share his feelings about her and
still go to university. He makes the sad choice to leave her and joins
childhood friends Rob Gilson (Patrick Gibson), Geoffrey Smith (Anthony Boyle)
and Christopher Wiseman (Tom Glynn-Carney), also known as the TCBS, to
university.
As the group continues to meet, Tolkien is one step away
from having to leave school when he discovers Professor Wright (Derek Jacobi).
Sharing his story’s with the Professor, both men become thrilled at the
possibilities of the story and language. Finally finding his place in school,
the war breaks out and Tolkien is called up.
Before shipping out he once again sees Edith and he finds
himself still smitten with the young girl. They have a chance to explain to one
another the situation as it was then but their hearts never let go of one
another only to be parted again by battle.
Tolkien fights to stay alive, fights to find his friends and
without realizing it would soon take all the horrors of war and create one of
the most iconic stories ever written.
Hoult as Tolkien takes on the monumental task of playing a
character that became famous for his books and his name becomes world wide
again when the films come to the screen. I will be honest, I wasn’t sure that
justice could be done in the story telling of a writer who impacted my life so
profoundly yet Hoult did so. The struggles of youth followed Tolkien and he
could have ‘gone wrong’ as the sayings goes but instead he found a path that
Hoult walks honorably.
Collins as Edith is a young girl understanding Tolkien much
more than anyone else (other than his brother). She pushes him to continue to
write stories because she saw something magical about the world Tolkien
creates. Collins gives her character strength, dignity and a forwardness not
seen by women of Edith’s day. Meaney as Father Francis takes the role of
father, protector and if that doesn’t work he uses good old fashioned guilt to
‘guide’ Tolkien’s life choices. I have to say I wasn’t happy with this
character and that’s probably because I’m not much for emotional bullying which
means Meaney did a fantastic job!
Gibson, Boyle and Glynn-Carney as Rob, Geoffrey and
Christopher are three friends I’d love to have had growing up. Although they
started out prickly, the story of each of these young men would impact Tolkien
in ways they would never see coming. These four actors when on screen together
are gripping and I enjoyed watching their friendship grow.
Now, as for Roberts as Private Sam Hodges, I have only one
thing to say – stellar and well done young man, extremely well done. From
beginning to end it was the life of Tolkien that was his mission and he took it
so seriously that nothing would turn him from it. Sound like a story character
you might know?
Other cast include Laura Donnelly as Mabel Tolkien,
Guillermo Bedward as Hilary Tolkien, Nia Gwynne as Browen, Tony Nash as
Mackintosh, Owen Teale as Headmaster Gilson, Lara Maguire as Rose, Holly
Dempster as Beryl, Genevieve O’Reilly as Mrs. Smith and David Birkbeck as
Porter.
TOLKIEN is well done, beautifully put on screen and gives
the viewer a deep look inside what it took for THE LORD OF THE RINGS to make it
to the page. Watching the story unfold is like seeing how characters were born
in his mind. I caught myself a few times pointing at things I saw on the screen
with an inhale and then a smile. Okay, so being a raging Tolkien fan it was
like being part of a mental treasure hunt.
The cast brings together with such intensity the moments in Tolkien’s
life that he held on to for dear life. The story is raw and beautiful at the
same time to the point where I didn’t want it to end. The good news is that
sitting on my library shelf are the books and films which are a wonderful
solace brought by a man who took what he experienced in his life and shared it
in the most magnificent way with the world.
In the end – a life of love, courage and fellowship!
