The greater the artist, the more interesting we expect his life to be. It's a truism that has helped greenlight many a biopic, with mixed results. Jackson Pollock's visionary paintings and sorry personal life made for a gripping film, "Pollock" (2000); Brian Wilson's heart-rending music and mental illness, however, made for an only so-so drama, "Love & Mercy" (2015).
With those stories, it was the telling that made the difference. With "Tolkien," Dome Karukoski's film about the writer J.R.R. Tolkien, the story itself seems to be the problem.
"Tolkien" has plenty to recommend it, beginning with a more than credible performance from Nicholas Hoult in the title role. It's a handsome film, with warm cinematography and lived-in costumes that transport us to England in the years before World War I. The writing, by Stephen Beresford ("Pride") and David Gleeson, is quite fine. Yet the film tells us precious little about what, specifically, inspired Tolkien's "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings," two fantasy novels so richly detailed and prodigiously imaginative that they have arguably never been equaled.
