The platinum card of Dickens adaptations. A miraculous confluence of Victorian child acting, liquid directing and W.C. Fields. Could only have happened when and how it did, and praise the lord for that.
Sometimes, very rarely, a movie lights up inside of you as you're watching. Your instincts and the movie's instincts are simply in sync. This one had me at hello, as the saying goes. It is uncompromising. It feels completely honest. In very few brushstrokes it delineates its characters - all of whom are not just understandable, but lovable, despite their many and obvious foibles. There is a strain of conservative skepticism running through the picture - most likely because the majority of the characters are historians - which I find very refreshing. In short, I was not expecting to love this, and I love it - I have fallen in love, and it's just about as exciting as when it happens with another person.
