A sumptuous delight for the eyes and ears, this move to the big screen opens up the story in such delightful, new ways, it often takes your breath away. It's so nice seeing these characters again, made so real to us by the universally-loved t.v. series: Mr. Carson, Barrow, Edith, Mrs. Patmore, Molesley (my personal favorite!) Some of the dialogue is a bit too literary ("Did she really say that?? People dont talk that way.") and I do wish Maggie Smith had been given a few more zingers to deliver but all-in-all, I was transported for a couple of hours into a world that is lost to us now, a world and its occupants that once were real, a world where manners, beauty, civility mattered. And in this age of downright rudeness, ignorance, disrespect, "Downton Abbey: the Movie" is a great gift, indeed!