Rating: 
Summary: A Movie With Everything
Review: After the second viewing, Nicholas Nickleby ascended even higher on my personal list of the top five movies of all time. Throughout, it makes the most beautiful use of the English language I've ever heard. If you enjoy stories of goodness and right overcoming wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity and wonderfully romantic "happily ever after" endings, then do not miss Nicholas Nickleby. The casting is sheer perfection, the soundtrack uplifting -- Charles Dickens would have been pleased! Five stars is far too few on the ratings scale!
Rating:
Summary: A call to honor and purity!
Review: This movie is sad, funny, and thrilling. From Nickolas seeking honorable employment, to his sister keeping pure, this film delighted me. I saw it twice! Finally a movie that displays values and presents moral lessons! It rebukes today's immoral society and brings forth the value of a clean one. I highly recommend it, a wonderful story for all to enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Quite satisfying film version of a classic Dickens's novel
Review: This is an excellent version of Charles Dickens's classic novel. Any film adaptation of any of Dickens's longer novels runs up against an inescapable fact: too little time, too many pages. As a result, almost all film versions of Dickens end up as frantic sprints rather than leisurely strolls, which is the experience one has actually reading the novels. So, in a sense, any film version is doomed to fail from the beginning. Despite that, this film, despite the overall sketchiness and sense of parts either missing or only partially filled in, contains many excellent moments.Overall, the cast is excellent, with a couple of irritating decisions. Charlie Hunnam, in the opinion of all in my group that saw this, was good but almost too good looking for the title role. He was, in fact, a bit of a bore, but that is as it should be since the least interesting character in most of Dickens's novels is his hero, the great characters all being the minor ones. Anne Hathaway is fetching as Madeline Gray, but spends an amazingly small amount of time onscreen. Jamie Bell, who garnered a well deserved Oscar nomination in BILLY ELLIOT, and stunned people with his physical prowess as a 12-year-old, here plays the cripple Smike. Bell does a very decent job, in that he plays the part pretty much as written, but the character of Smike recalls Oscar Wilde's quip that it would take a man with a heart of stone to cry at the death of Little Nell in THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP. I always find the characters upon whom Dickens most wants us to focus our sympathies to be utterly unbearable. So, the lead characters aren't so terribly compelling. But this is a version of Dickens, which means that the villains and secondary characters dominate throughout. Christopher Plummer is one of the most underrated actors of his time, and hands in a marvelous performance as Ralph Nickleby, Nicholas's evil uncle. Even better in the role of the sadistic school master Wackford Squeers is Jim Broadbent, who in the past two years in films like IRIS (for which he got an Oscar) and MOULIN ROUGE (playing the owner and manager Harold Zidler) and THE GANGS OF NEW YORK (as Boss Tweed) has established himself as a character actor of prodigious talent and almost unchartable range. Nathan Lane shines as the narrator and the leader of the troupe of itinerant actors Vincent Crummles. Unfortunately, his part nearly gets squeezed off the screen by time restrictions. Many, many other actors and actresses manage superb small parts, too many to mention here. Again, the problem with the leads is not that they don't do a good job (they are all quite good), but that Dickens's best characters are his eccentrics and villains. As long as one doesn't expect a completely fleshed out version of the Dickens's novel, I can't imagine anyone not enjoying this film. Yes, much gets left out, and too often you get the sense that things are being pushed faster than you would like to see, but in the end you are introduced to a number of fascinating characters. I will add one last thing. No movie can ever hope to capture that which makes Dickens truly great: his prose. Although the film can, of course, capture lines of dialogue, we lose the thousands of superb descriptions and narrative moments that make Dickens one of the great English novelists. It isn't just that Dickens is better than any film adaptation: a film can't possible capture what makes him great. Still, a fine and fun film.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent MOvie
Review: This movie is well written, well directed and well acted...I can't wait for this movie to be on DVD...and for the Jane Austen fun, see it. I know you will just LOVE it. Just like I did....Trust me this is an excellent movie. Don't let this one pass you by.
Rating:
Summary: A Dickens Done Well!!
Review: WoW! I loved this movie from the moment the opening credits started to the moment the lights came up in the theater and I still love it! The acting is phenomenal, the music gets you into scenes, the humor makes you laugh out loud, and the story is epic. Finally, a wondeful Dickens story put to film faithfully and beautifully!!
Rating:
Summary: Superb cast bring Dickens to film life
Review: Douglas McGrath's new film of one of the most underrated of Dickens's novels is a masterpiece, virtually flawless from first frame to last. Jamie Bell, BAFTA best actor winner for Billy Elliot, takes on the very difficult role of Smike, the abused young inmate of Dotheboys Hall, and rivals Christopher Plummer (as wicked uncle Ralph Nickleby) for best performance in the piece. Brilliant evocation of 1830s London and rural England, and it is great to see such luminaries as Alan Cumming, Dame Edna Everage (!) and Nathan Lane obviously enjoying themselves to the hilt. In my view, this is the best Dickens we have had on screen or television since Christine Edzard's Little Dorrit set a new standard in 1987. Run, don't walk!
Rating:
Summary: Simply charming
Review: This movie is simply divine. It is adorable, sweet, quirky and funny and it doesn't claim to be anything else. It is a wonderful adaptation of a Dickens's novel, and his eccentric characters definitely emerge in this film. I would recommend this movie to people of all ages, you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: A MOVING EXPERIENCE
Review: A couple of nites ago I saw Almodovar's "Talk to Her" and was bored. (When I keep checking my watch--that's how I know a film has lost my attention.) The same cannot be said for "Nicholas Nickleby." I didn't want this movie to end. Everything was good about it: the directing, the acting, the writing, the cinematography, the music, the list goes on.... Let me just say that I thought Charlie Hunnam was the perfect choice for Nicholas--angelic looking with a violent streak. Jamie Bell ("Billy Elliott") was amazing--he caught the look and behavior as the hunchbacked Smike. Christopher Plummer was effective as the cruel Uncle. The story gave me a profound sense of the 9 degrees of separation theory. I highly recommend this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Go to see the Bad Guys
Review: If, like me, you'd rather not tackle the 800-page Dickens novel NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, then this cinematic Cliff Notes version is a convenient and satisfying alternative. Charlie Hunnam plays the 19 year-old Nicholas, who, with his sister Kate (Ramola Garai) and his mother, throws himself on the mercy of Uncle Ralph (Christopher Plummer) on the death of Nicholas, Sr. Ralph Nickleby is an avaricious, cold-hearted, conniving London speculator, and young Nicholas spends the remainder of the film extricating himself and rescuing others from Uncle's vile machinations. NICHOLAS NICKLEBY is a morality play about the conflict between good and evil that's perhaps quaint in the same way that movie audiences a century hence may regard any of the James Bond films. Nicholas is a tall, square-jawed, blond, brave, noble and principled hunk that approaches being boringly predictable. Certainly, the best reasons to see the film are the villains. Of course, there's Uncle Ralph, the man you love to hate. Then there are Wackford Squeers and his wife (Jim Broadbent and Juliet Stevenson respectively), who run a rural boarding school for boys that is, for its hapless pupils, a grim and terrible prison. And there's the old scoundrel Sir Mulberry Hawk (Edward Fox), who has lecherous designs on the lovely Kate's pulchritude. Mrs. Squeers, a witch with a vengeance, received too little screen time - for me, she was the most interesting of all. Of Nickleby's friends and allies, the most winning was Vincent Crummles (Nathan Lane), the owner of a traveling theater company. More pathetic than engaging is Smike (Jamie Bell), on whose behalf Nicholas confronts the evil Squeers duo. Smike is a completely wretched figure, the perfect foil for Nickleby's Dudley Doright persona. If you're a Charles Dickens fan, then NICHOLAS NICKLEBY is a must-see period piece that will attractively visualize the story for your mind's eye. It's not a great film, but rather a congenial family diversion for a Sunday matinee.
Rating:
Summary: SUBLIME ADAPTATION, DO NOT LET THIS GEM GO UNSEEN
Review: I beg to differ with the previous reviewer. Firstly, the young and very charismatic Charlie Hunnam CARRIES the film. That's
taking into account the ASTONISHINGLY impressive cast of practically every working actor in the UK. This young actor should not unfairly have his great performance commented upon in any way as relates to how he looks. That is unjust. The boy was superb and is a star in the making. Brilliantly emotive, striking just the balance between angelic hero, and strong force to be reckoned with, his was the strongest performance in the film. That said, the rest of the performances were just as noteworthy, especially Jim Broadbent, the vastly underrated Timothy Spall, (if you want to see another overlooked GEM, buy Still Crazy on DVD now while it's still available), Edward Fox in a key supporting role, and, providing some much needed comic relief, the inspired performances of Alan Cumming and Nathan Lane. JAMIE BELL deserves an Oscar nod for this MOST SUBTLE OF PERFORMANCES of what must surely be a difficult part to nail down. Naturally, Christopher Plummer is superb and flawless as ever, he wouldn't have it any other way, and only he can make this truly evil, vile character sympathetic. The plot is Dickens of course, full of subplot, subcontext, dead-on characterization, and moral meaning. This is my favourite Dickens tale, one of family, and what constitutes family, and loyalty, and most of all, strength of character. It's got it all. RUN TO SEE IT. Please do not be swayed by all the drivel that is out there this season, with a few exceptions, (that means you, Mr. Spielberg). These quality movies need to be seen, so that they will continue to be made. And we do need films like this to prevent our childrens heads from turning to mush by all the horrid material that is out there. So please let's all see this movie, and enjoy it with our kids who are over 10 or so. (Very sad at times, and not quite sure younger children won't be TOO saddened by these parts. There was much sniffling and blowing of young noses during our New Years Eve viewing). BUT ALL IN ALL, SUPERB QUALITY, PRODUCTION VALUES, WONDERFUL RACHEL PORTMAN SCORE, AS ALWAYS, GORGEOUS CINEMATOGRAPHY, AND ALL AROUND EXCELLENT IN EVERY WAY. If the mass market moviegoer can't appreciate this type of film, more's the pity, but there's always XXX for those people, and
people of taste should see this one. Happy Viewing and Happy New Year to all !!
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