‘Tolkien’ fails to find focus, or insight, in telling famed author’s storyDanCeFestivals

Posted on May 17, 2019

By MARK VIOLA

J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” books are some of the best-selling novels of all time, and perhaps the most influential novels of the 20th century, seeding nearly every fantasy work of fiction since their publication in 1954-55. Even if you haven’t read the books, or the preceding “The Hobbit,” you’ve most likely heard of them, or seen Peter Jackson’s masterful theatrical adaptation of them — “The Lord of the Rings,” not his bloated attempt to bring “The Hobbit” to the screen.

Still, you might not know much about the man behind the books, and what influenced him to write them. That is what the new film, “Tolkien,” attempts to do. I say “attempts” because while the movie can boast some solid performances and steady direction, it never manages to figure out just what story it wants to tell. As such, I left the film having seen some intriguing and compelling moments from Tolkien’s life, but without any real knowledge about the man himself or his works.

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