Nicholas Nickleby (Hunnam) hatches a scheme to rescue a crippled young boy from virtual slavery and asks his friend Noggs (Courtenay) what he thinks of it. "May I say, it is foolhardy, redolent of danger, and doomed to fail. Aside from that I can think of no objection." I know, I know. It's an antique fiddling with rhetoric. It was probably old when Dickens deployed it.
But there are several other comic moments that lift this dark story out of the gloom that threatens to envelop it. A terrified boy named Smike (Bell) is about to appear on stage for the first time, playing the apothecary in "Romeo and Juliet" before a formal audience. Hunnam as Romeo is alone on the stage. Then he shouts, "What, ho! Apothecary!" and waits for Bell to appear A moment passes. Several moments pass. The audience sits politely -- waiting. Finally Bell comes crashing out onto the stage as if thrown from the wings, which he probably was. Unable to speak, he gawks into the silent theater. More moment pass. Dynasties rise and fall, until he tentatively croaks, "Who calls so loud?" And the audience bursts into applause for him, having finally gotten the line out!
I said the story was dark and except for a few brief moments, most of them involving Hunnam's involvement with the actors, it is dark. As is usual with Dickens, there are several deaths, the threat of an unwise marriage, poverty and violence, the gain or loss of fortunes. I won't get into all the sub plots.
The production values are extremely good. Scenes of drear and misery alternate with idyllic shots of green meadows and Mattise ponds laced with lily pads. Make up and wardrobe are unimpeachable.
The performances are all professional but two stand out. Christopher Plummer is the rich, mean uncle who exploits everyone and is possessed by spite. His conversion to humanity is a little abrupt but it's not Plummer's fault. He's hugely enjoyable. The other is Tom Courtenay, almost unrecognizable as Plummer's bibulous butler.
It joins David Lean's "Oliver Twist" and the 1951 version of "Christmas Carol" as the best adaptations of any Dickens novel.
But there are several other comic moments that lift this dark story out of the gloom that threatens to envelop it. A terrified boy named Smike (Bell) is about to appear on stage for the first time, playing the apothecary in "Romeo and Juliet" before a formal audience. Hunnam as Romeo is alone on the stage. Then he shouts, "What, ho! Apothecary!" and waits for Bell to appear A moment passes. Several moments pass. The audience sits politely -- waiting. Finally Bell comes crashing out onto the stage as if thrown from the wings, which he probably was. Unable to speak, he gawks into the silent theater. More moment pass. Dynasties rise and fall, until he tentatively croaks, "Who calls so loud?" And the audience bursts into applause for him, having finally gotten the line out!
I said the story was dark and except for a few brief moments, most of them involving Hunnam's involvement with the actors, it is dark. As is usual with Dickens, there are several deaths, the threat of an unwise marriage, poverty and violence, the gain or loss of fortunes. I won't get into all the sub plots.
The production values are extremely good. Scenes of drear and misery alternate with idyllic shots of green meadows and Mattise ponds laced with lily pads. Make up and wardrobe are unimpeachable.
The performances are all professional but two stand out. Christopher Plummer is the rich, mean uncle who exploits everyone and is possessed by spite. His conversion to humanity is a little abrupt but it's not Plummer's fault. He's hugely enjoyable. The other is Tom Courtenay, almost unrecognizable as Plummer's bibulous butler.
It joins David Lean's "Oliver Twist" and the 1951 version of "Christmas Carol" as the best adaptations of any Dickens novel.