Rating: 
Summary: I laughed - I cried - I was immensely entertained!
Review: James D"Arcy has to be the best young actor around. He showed such a range of emotions from sad to ferocious anger and I forgot that it was only a miniseries I was watching because I felt as if I were in the room. Three cheers for the whole cast. I have to buy this so that I can see it again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Adaptation of Dicken's Classic
Review: James D'arcy is perfectly cast in the title role as Nicholas Nickleby, a young, well-meaning but penniless gentleman who tries to earn an honest living to support his loving mother and sister who are dependent on him. First, he accepts a position as a teacher at a Yorkshire boarding school, not realising the horror that awaits him at the school run by the cruel Mr Squeers. When he could no longer endure the cruelty and atrocity inflicted by Squeers on the young children, he runs away from the school, followed by a boy (Smike) who has long suffered abuse and gross mistreatment at the hands of Squeers. Both Nicholas and Smike quickly become inseparable, loyal friends. By a strange chance, they go on to become actors at a small theatre run by the Crummles family. After being long separated from his mother and sister, Nicholas later leaves the theatre and makes a hasty return home to save his sister from a sinister plot cooked up by his evil uncle, Ralph Nickleby (played by Charles Dance). Ralph is a rich, old miser with a heart of stone who hates Nicholas intensely (mainly because he is jealous of Nicholas's youth and goodness of heart).James D'arcy's "Nicholas" is endearing and wonderful to watch. If you are a female viewer, you will be most pleasantly surprised (and awed) by his uncommon good looks. He is so strikingly handsome and will make you swoon! He reminds me of a young Ralph Fiennes (the eyes and upper part of the face) and Ethan Hawke (the lower part of the face). The beautiful Sophia Myles is also well cast as Nicholas's sister, Kate, a sweet and wholesome-looking girl who has to fend off unwanted male attentions wherever she goes. The many supporting characters (queer, eccentric folks, all) help spice up the plot and inject much humour into the story. Most notably, the Squeers family (an incredibly obnoxious and hateful family), the Mantalinis (a lovey-dovey couple who runs a fashion house; but they fight a lot too), the Crummles family (who owns the theatre), the generous Cheeryble twin brothers, Newman Noggs (Ralph Nickleby's reluctant assistant) and Arthur Gride (a hideous-looking and repulsive old man who plots to marry the beautiful Madeline Bray who also happens to be the object of Nicholas's affection). My only complaint is that the actress who plays Madeline Bray has too much make-up on (her face is too thickly powdered and it shows because you see that her neck is tan). Also, the scarlet red lipstick is unsuitable for her character who is supposed to be a simple, poor girl who would not have the time, money nor inclination to buy or use make-up! I feel this adaptation does good to leave out some of the minor characters from Dicken's novel because they do not serve the plot much, such as the large Kenwigs family and the madman who lives next door to Mrs Nickleby (Nicholas's mother). Otherwise, this production would be another hour long, at least. I thoroughly enjoyed this adaptation and would recommend it to all fans of high quality period drama.
Rating:
Summary: Very Enjoyable!
Review: One of Dickens' most ludicrous, exaggerated, and enjoyable works, Nicholas Nickleby is a very entertaining watch. We bought this movie before we had seen it just because we liked the story so well, and hey, how bad could it be? When the story begins, the good looking young man Nicholas Nickleby's father has just died and left his wife, son (Nicholas), and daughter on their own. Luckily their uncle has money, unluckily he seems unwilling to help them. He does manage to find young Nickleby a horrible job at a cruel boarding school, where Nicholas meets up with the bedgraggled, beaten, and neglected Smike, a young boy about his age. His sister gets a job at a dressmaking shop. When jealous colleagues get her fired, old Ralph Nickleby, the uncle, has something worse in store for her. Nicholas is not there to help her, for he is conviently banished from London by his uncle for quitting his job at the school and defending Smike. Ralph Nickleby acquaints her with some horrid and vicious young admirers, gentlemen by status, but in no means by definition. Anyway, this is Dickens - there are hilarious parts, sad parts, and rediculous (but delightful) coincidences. Do not miss this one!
Rating:
Summary: Seldom better craft in the story, much less the artisans...
Review: This is a wonderful adaptation of the original novel. Some things are differant. I believe that "differant" is necessary when you are adapting a classic novel to screen, for several reasons. First being, that you cannot follow a straight story line with any deviations on a book as long as Nicholas Nickleby is without dragging on things that are unimportant, and adding in things that are. But seldom will you see a screen adaptation that works better than this one. The characters are all believable, and most sympathetic, even when you DON'T like them. (I do not believe that any villian is absolute, and he is not here.) Dickens is fairly often preachy, while still being interesting and lively, and this is no worse than any of the others. But I digress. The movie is visually stunning, emotionally wrenching, and beautifully puts those two things together. I know, blah, blah, blah, Susie. Tell us if we will like it! The answer is Yes. Yes, you should like it. If you have any feelings at all for classics, YES! You will like it. And from here, might I suggest that you step on to Pride and Prejudice. They are both wonderful uplifiting ways of escape. Happy watching! (Or, for the MORE adventurous, Happy Reading!) Susie
Rating:
Summary: Seldom better craft in the story, much less the artisans...
Review: This is a wonderful adaptation of the original novel. Some things are differant. I believe that "differant" is necessary when you are adapting a classic novel to screen, for several reasons. First being, that you cannot follow a straight story line with any deviations on a book as long as Nicholas Nickleby is without dragging on things that are unimportant, and adding in things that are. But seldom will you see a screen adaptation that works better than this one. The characters are all believable, and most sympathetic, even when you DON'T like them. (I do not believe that any villian is absolute, and he is not here.) Dickens is fairly often preachy, while still being interesting and lively, and this is no worse than any of the others. But I digress. The movie is visually stunning, emotionally wrenching, and beautifully puts those two things together. I know, blah, blah, blah, Susie. Tell us if we will like it! The answer is Yes. Yes, you should like it. If you have any feelings at all for classics, YES! You will like it. And from here, might I suggest that you step on to Pride and Prejudice. They are both wonderful uplifiting ways of escape. Happy watching! (Or, for the MORE adventurous, Happy Reading!) Susie
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Adaptation
Review: This latest version of Dickens's wonderful Nicholas Nickleby is yet another in a line of excellent BBC produced dramatizations of classics; something Hollywood rarely if ever does these days because "art" doesn't sell! All I can say is "Thank God for television!"
Everything about this adaptation speaks of excellence. The casting in particular is a joy. James D'Arcy is the finest Nicholas on screen. He is a "Candide"-like figure; total believable and you want to root for him just as Dickens wanted his readers to sympathize with the protagonist. Charles Dance is equally effective as Nicholas's villainous uncle. But it doesn't end with the two leads. Every single character (and there are a lot of them) is cast perfectly and totally believable from a physical standpoint; from the lowest street people to the wealthy upper class. There's not a dud in the lot! The casting director should be knighted!
The direction is fluid and unflinching as it examines the seedier sides of the story. Pairing down the story to three hours is done with excellent comprehension. Those parts of the story missing are inevitably not missed for a dramatic presentation. The art direction is exquisite throughout. Costumes, sets and locations are brilliantly handled.
I'll also take exception to those who prefer the Royal Shakespeare version. That production was a noble effort to bring the story to the live theater and in many respects it was original and excellent. It suffers, however, from a forced stage theatricality inherent in such projects and simply gets bogged down with too much detail. The result is way too long. The new version sacrifices some length for clarity and precision story telling and has better casting in every role.
I have no hesitation in finding the entire production to be delightful; and by all means go out and buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: AHHHH!!
Review: Whoa! Now keep in mind, I have not read a single Dickens novel. I am however, familiar with the story of Nicholas Nickleby, as I have seen the 8 hour play on Laserdisc, and due to the length, it is pretty true to the book. But this version was torn to pieces. It completely left out some minor subplots, some major subplots, and a whole lot of other stuff. Don't bother seeing this one. A whole Dickens novel cannot be told in two parts. See the 8 hour "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" starring Roger Rees instead.
Rating:
Summary: AHHHH!!
Review: Whoa! Now keep in mind, I have not read a single Dickens novel. I am however, familiar with the story of Nicholas Nickleby, as I have seen the 8 hour play on Laserdisc, and due to the length, it is pretty true to the book. But this version was torn to pieces. It completely left out some minor subplots, some major subplots, and a whole lot of other stuff. Don't bother seeing this one. A whole Dickens novel cannot be told in two parts. See the 8 hour "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" starring Roger Rees instead.
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