I have never been a great fan of the writings of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, the author of many of the commanding heights of fantasy fiction, including The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and much more. No matter, I very much enjoyed this film. An entertaining bio-pic that describes Tolkien's life from boyhood, through the death of his parents, his education in Birmingham, chequered Oxford University career, service in the First World War, and marriage to his sweetheart Edit Bratt, met whilst both were staying in the same boarding house for orphans in Birmingham. We get a great deal about the friendships forged at King Edward's School around 1911. Tolkien and three friends, Rob Gilson, Geoffrey Bache Smith, and Christopher Wiseman, formed a semi-secret society named for a Birmingham Tea Room they frequented called the T.C.B.S. (Tea Club and Barrovian Society). Sadly only Tolkien and Wiseman survived the war. Throughout, Tolkien's interest in languages, folklore and fantasy shine through. The film ends in the mid 1930s with Tolkien, now a Professor at Oxford, writing the opening lines to "The Hobbit". Tolkien died in 1973, aged 81.