Tolkien (film)

Tolkien is a 2019 American biographical drama film directed by Dome Karukoski and written by David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford. It is about the early life of English professor J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, as well as notable academic works. The film stars Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Colm Meaney, and Derek Jacobi.

Tolkien was released in the United Kingdom on May 3, 2019 and in the United States on May 10, 2019. It is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures under the Fox Searchlight Pictures banner, making it the first film released by Searchlight after their acquisition by Disney on March 20, 2019. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $7 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.

Premise
As a teenager, J. R. R. Tolkien befriends a group of fellow artists and writers at his school, with whom he finds inspiration and courage. Their bond of fellowship grows with the years, as they experience life together. Meanwhile, Tolkien meets Edith Bratt, with whom he falls in love. But when World War I breaks out, Tolkien's relationships with his friends are tested, an act which threatens to tear their "fellowship" apart.

Production
On November 21, 2013, it was announced that Fox Searchlight Pictures and Chernin Entertainment were developing a biographical film about the English writer, and author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien, based on a screenplay by David Gleeson. Another J. R. R. Tolkien biopic, Tolkien and Lewis, was reported to be in production a year before, but did not proceed. On July 24, 2017, Dome Karukoski was hired to direct the film with the screenplay from Gleeson and Stephen Beresford, which Chernin produced for Fox Searchlight to distribute.

Karukoski related that he had grown up fatherless and in poverty, and that because of this, he felt, as a child, a strong connection to Tolkien, who had similar experiences. Karukoski also mentioned that he had wanted to create a biopic about Tolkien since he was 12, which was when he first read Tolkien's works, and that it had been a dream of his to create film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings. He described the effect of Tolkien's works on him as "life-changing", saying that when he was bullied as a child, "it was like the characters became friends of mine." Of the author, he said: "[w]hat struck me the most is that he lived an amazing life... this beautiful, emotional story about love and friendship. So many things about what I had read about [in] the books, occurred or were instrumental in his own life. [The Tolkien film was] a film that had to be made."

On April 23, 2019, the Tolkien Estate issued a statement making it clear that the family and estate do not endorse the film or its content.

The film touches on many themes in Tolkien's early life, including his friendships, love of languages, religion, and romance with Edith Bratt.

Casting
In July 2017, Nicholas Hoult was reportedly in talks with the studio, as the frontrunner for the title role. On August 30, 2017, Lily Collins was cast to co-star with Hoult, as Edith Bratt, love and later wife of Tolkien, who was also the inspiration for Lúthien in The Silmarillion. Colm Meaney, Tom Glynn-Carney, and Genevieve O'Reilly joined the cast in October 2017, and Craig Roberts was added the following month.

Filming
Principal photography commenced in October 2017 in the United Kingdom, and concluded on December 14, 2017.

Release
Tolkien was released on May 3, 2019, in the United Kingdom and on May 10, 2019 in the United States.

Box office
Tolkien has grossed $4.5 million in the United States, and $3.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $7.7 million.

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Pokémon Detective Pikachu, Poms and The Hustle, and was projected to gross $2–4 million from 1,425 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $2.2 million and finishing in ninth.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 51% based on 158 reviews, and an average rating of 5.83/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Tolkien has the period trappings and strong performances of a worthy biopic, but lacks the imagination required to truly do its subject justice." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it a 76% positive score.

Giving the film two out of five stars, Wendy Ide for The Observer commented "[a] decades-long trudge through Middle-earth would seem like a carefree skip through the park compared to this slog of a literary biopic." David Sims, writing for The Atlantic, criticized the biopic's lack of imagination and subtlety, stating, "The result doesn't rise above the insight of a Wikipedia page."

Criticism over depiction of Tolkien's religion
The film was criticized for giving no indication that Tolkien's faith was a central theme in his life, despite its impact on his work. Director Dome Karukoski explained the decision as having been motivated by the difficulty he had portraying religion in Tolkien's life on account of its "internal[ity]." Karukoski related that he had attempted to create scenes that depicted Tolkien's more religious side, but those scenes failed to engage initial audiences and were cut from the film. Nevertheless, Karukoski explained that although there are no overt references to religion in the film, religion is still implied: "[W]e have scenes where he attends communion and helps Father Francis to show that he was a man of faith. There are also layered scenes, where he looks up to the heavens for an answer as if asking God for help. There's another scene where a figure is on a cross. Many people won’t notice those hints because they’re so eternal."

Other reviews have stated that Tolkien's Christian faith is embedded in the film much the same way that it is embedded in his Middle-earth writings.