By Robert Bouffard
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” The opening line of The Hobbit is perhaps one of the most recognizable and iconic opening lines from a novel. But this simple sentence has so much history and influence behind it that the words which make it up carry that much more weight.
It is the meaning behind words, then, that the film Tolkien decides to focus on. In looking at the life of legendary novelist J. R. R. Tolkien (played by Nicholas Hoult), it finds one of the more meaningful aspects behind his work to choose as the lens through which to view his story. The film portrays his deep interest in linguistics and how they inform people, cultures, and societies. This, after all, is the reason Tolkien decided to create Middle Earth and all the stories held within. He loved to learn and create languages, but these created languages are completely devoid of meaning when no meaning is given to them.
Language and Edith Bratt (Lily Collins) were the two things Tolkien loved the most. The movie portrays their love story to be one of the largest motivating factors behind everything Tolkien did in his life. Sadly, their love story isn’t given the same depth as Tolkien’s stories. The movie is at its very best when it’s focusing on the high culture part of his life, and not his personal desires.
When Tolkien is talking about life and language and meaning, there is a lot being presented for the viewer to chew on and think about. It goes against the typical biopic formula in these sections because it is focusing on an ideal of the character, instead of his life as a whole, and that is one of its biggest strengths. Only a portion of his life is looked at, and not his entire life. But in this case, it also manages to be one of its biggest weaknesses.
There is a fairly confusing plot structure to this movie. It is confusing in the sense that there isn’t really an apparent reason that it is set up this way, other than to bring in references to Middle Earth. Lots of the imagery in this movie is meant to be evocative of the well-known imagery from Tolkien’s fantasy world. This works for those in the audience who recognize these visual cues, but it doesn’t quite work on its own. Granted, most people watching this movie will understand the imagery, but references to The Lord of the Rings does not a good movie make (see: The HobbitTrilogy).
While there is enough in this movie that makes it worth a watch, it still feels like there is something missing. It’s missing a main focus, and is instead too scattered to feel complete. Where there should be great, meaty substance, it feels thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread. Such an epic storyteller deserved a better on-screen story.
Grade: B-