Tolkien - Rated PG-13, 2½ stars. Biography of the creator of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" credits childhood poverty, high school friendship, and the trenches of World War I as inspiration.
J. R. R. Tolkien's life receives the "Masterpiece Theater" approach in this serious, reverent film. Nicolas Hoult makes a fine effort as young Tolkien, and Lily Collins a fine muse as the love of his life. The story reels in a manner understood even by those of us who aren't in love with Tolkien's work. From the film, you learn that Tolkien emphasized the final syllable of his name (Toll-KEN.) Just think we've been saying it wrong all these years. "Tolkien" has the slow, steady pace of most stories set in England a hundred years ago.
