sam merrell

A film wholly undeserving of its critical acclaim. Mediocre at best. The director seems more concerned with sentimentality than tension. The film fails to develop the world, the monsters and the characters in it. Watchable, but I'm glad it only ran for 90 mins, or I might have been turning it off.

I watched this film right after reading the novel for the first time. Whilst I think it is possible to make a great adaptation, it would take at lest three hours. This condensed 2 hour film gives little to no time to develop some of the most important characters in the novel, which might be fine, yet it still seems to expect the audience to care for them just as much. Of all the merciless cutting, I find the reduction of Mr Peggotty's character to a bit part (probably less than half a dozen lines) the most objectionable. He is, in my view, the heart of the novel, and the story simply is not recognisable without him. If this film does anything positive, it is that it highlights the genius of Dickens. He can, in a few short sentences, evoke a greater sense of character than some very fine actors can in a two hour performance. And seriously, where was the writhing, red, 'umbleness named Uriah Heep? Such an iconic villain was rendered, like much of the film, forgettable.

Solid film that doesn't push the boundaries of the genre enough to be too exciting, but easy enough viewing.