After a long, troubled road, it looks as though Peter Jackson's The Hobbit is finally coming together. Last week, Jackson confirmed he would not only be executive-producing but also directing the film, replacing Guillermo Del Toro who left the project last May. Now comes the announcement that Martin Freeman, best known as Tim in the original British version of "The Office," will play the titular Hobbit, Bilbo. "There are a few times in your career when you come across an actor who you know was born to play a role, but that was the case as soon as I met Martin," Jackson said in a statement. Do critics concur?
Freeman is the perfect choice: This news is a "relief," says Ben Child in The Guardian. Bilbo is an important, nuanced role, and, at 39, Freeman is just the right age. Bonus: He has a fitting "world-weary quality... One can just imagine him bumbling around his hobbit hole happily... and being most disgruntled by the arrival of [interlopers] intent on enrolling him in a rather uncomfortable adventure."
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