brokenjukebox

I've not read the book in ages and I haven't seen much of the 2002 film version, but I love this wonderful adaptation of Charles Dickens' "The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby".

The acting is first rate for all involved. James D'Arcy as Nicholas Nickleby and Sophia Myles as Kate Nickleby both give a lot of strength and dignity to their roles. Although both characters are presented as quite pure and face a lot of adversity, they are played with such strength you know that they won't let anything destroy them. Charles Dance is compelling as the cold hearted Ralph Nickleby and the many comic grotesques are all very enjoyable and distinctly painted. The pig-like Squeers family in particular- Gregor Fisher, best known for playing Rab C. Nesbitt does fantastic as the monstrous one-eyed Wackford Squeers, Pam Ferris gives good value as drunken Mrs. Squeers, a pre-'Tittybangbang' Debbie Chazen is hilarious as Fanny Squeers- her argument after a game of cards to her much more attractive best friend Tilda is a highlight). The rather dopey Mrs. Nickleby, the air headed dressmakers, the fancy, flamboyant circus-like theatre troupe, the twin Cherrybles, the lecherous old man and the cackling old hag Peg Silderskew (played by the always brilliant Liz Smith) are all great.

This is the first thing I saw Lee Ingleby in. I was very impressed. He does a remarkable job as the tragic Smike. He gives a very moving performance here, conveying the suffering and the innocence of the character very well.

Everything works to set the scene. The scenery shows a lot of wild countryside, the costumes, which earned designer Barbara Kidd a BAFTA are particularly good- even the food used adds to the overall feel of the story. The biggest weakness is the bombastic incidental music. It often drowns the actors out and distracts from the events in the story. Background music should be just that- left in the background to enhance the feel of the scenes rather than dominate them.

A brilliant adaptation by the late Stephen Whittaker as director and Martyn Hesford who adapted it as a script. A credit to TV drama.

Having not seen the original I can't compare the two, but this movie is just terrible. I enjoyed it a little in a "so bad it's good way", but this film is one of the worst I've ever seen.

A bland, cardboard cut-out All-American family move into a scary haunted house, and of course weird things start to happen, namely ghosts start appearing and whispering, the walls bleed and the step-dad goes crazy and tries to kill all of them. In another words, every horror cliché in the book. We have the little kid who sees and talks to dead people, the Catholic priest from The Exorcist who tries to get rid of the evil things in the house, the concerned young blonde mother who researches all the history of this to protect her children- they're all here, and cheap rip-offs of them at that.

The worst thing about this is film is it's just so bland and boring. Even the most casual movie watcher will have seen all this before. The script is silly, and the obviousness of it all is annoying- lets buy a spooky house where those brutal murders were committed last year. Let's not try and escape when daddy starts going nuts- let's not even notice he's going nuts beside his bloodshot eyes and how happy he looks when wielding an axe. Let's try and escape by climbing on the high roof.

The supernatural and historical sides of the story are bought up and disgarded- the ghost of Jodie one of the little girls who got murdered seems important to begin with then buggers off somewhere until the end and looks sad. Should have made more of an effort love. An important revelation as to why evil spirits are possessing young men and making them kill their families in the first place- the house was built on a site where an evil psychotic priest slaughtered and tortured Native Americans- is squeezed into the end and is forgotten about. It seems more of an excuse than an explanation.

The family in question have no character to speak of, and the acting is by large sub-par. Ryan Reynolds spends most of the film looking like some demented cave man, Melissa George, who I have fond memories of as Angel in Aussie soap Home And Away, plays a character who is such an airhead and is so unbelievably stupid she deserves everything she gets. The kids have very little to do. Michael is just there to be sickly sweet and look wide-eyed. Chelsea is probably the best of the kids, but she too is just sickly sweet and looks wide-eyed, apart from befriending the long-dead Jodie. See The Sixth Sense, The Others, the Ring etc about little kids who can talk and befriend dead people.

Billy is just a whiny little brat who doesn't like his new step-dad.The only character I liked was Rachel Nichols as the trashy bad babysitter Lisa, who got the only intended funny scene when Billy is fancies her and changes his mind about needing a babysitter. She's also the only interesting character, being a total bitch, and her appearance is all too brief.

With this family I just didn't care if they got brutally slaughtered or not. Sadly, they all make it out alive. The only death in this film apart from the flashbacks is a dog, which is a real cop-out.

If you want a good laugh at how bad Hollywood can be then this may be a movie to check out. But surely there are better ways to spend an hour and a half of your life.