GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Verity Robins Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

johannes2000-1 As a big Dickens-fan I read the book a few years ago and thought it (along with Dombey and Son) one of his best: a road-movie-like coming-of-age story that gives us some of the finest (and most hilarious) of Dickens-characters, like the notorious Quilp, his mother-in-law, Dick Swiveller and the Brass-siblings, and a beautiful description of the English countryside. Although there is a fair amount of (melo)drama involved, Dickens succeeds in keeping a light tone and an fine calculated balance between the laughs, the tears and the fast-paced intrigue. It's some 600 odd pages (in my Penguin copy), and like with all of Dickens' novels I usually am disappointed in any adaptation for the screen: there's just too much going on in the book, too many important characters, too many story-lines, and the necessary cuts - even in the more spacious room of a mini-series - have a way of cramping up the story and caving out the depth and shades out off many of the side-characters to leave them the outline of a mere caricature. So I was very surprised to find that this adaptation completely proved my prejudices wrong. This is an excellent movie! It's very true to the book, almost all the characters have kept there place and there own special charms, and the tone of the movie has exactly the right balance of lightness and seriousness. I had the impression that all the main characters and plot-lines of the novel found (thanks to some very good writing) there place in the movie, apart from leaving out one schoolboy-character who dies somewhere in the middle of the novel, evidently the writer and director found two child-deathbeds a bit too much (as I thought so too when reading the novel, to be honest). The acting is overall great and by some of the cast superb. Peter Ustinov for instance is very convincing as the grandfather who is full of love for Nell as well as full of sinister secrets and he plays his role with a kind of modest dignity. Sally Walsh is excellent too, of course she had the burden of a Dickens-heroine and has to be throughout the whole of the movie this endearing spotless angel. This can easily result in an irritating goody-two-shoes, but Sally Walsh succeeds in keeping up a strong and sympathetic character with just the right mixture of half-child, half grown-up person. However, the undisputed star of this version is Tom Courtenay as the infamous Quilp: the sinister face, the spasmodic movements, the lisped voice and the sardonic humor are brought with just the right amount of restraint to make him totally believable. A special mention should go to William Mannering, the young actor who plays Kit. He didn't have much screen-experience at that time, judging from the information on IMDb, but he gave a great performance an moved me to tears at the dramatic ending. The direction by Kevin Connor was very good, as was the beautiful photography and settings. An absolute 10!!

Dillon Naber This is a great movie. Very well acted by all the main characters, and the setting is superb. A wonderful story of human tragedy and triumph. Anyone who is a fan of Charles Dickens will love this movie. The attention to period detail in the costumes and scenery is very good. Some lessons can be learned about human nature as well from this story. Highly recommended.

philtrau-2 For anyone who loves Dickens, this is going to be a surprise of the best kind. Few productions can capture the details that make Dickens' words come alive. This version of The Old Curiosity Shop does more with an empty set than most do at full steam. The set design strengthens every performance, adding nuance and flavor to actors who are already working at the peak of their craft.If this seems like slavering, it's only because something of this quality comes maybe once a decade. The cast is a director's dream, and each member delivers just the right spice to this dish.With so much excellence, it would seem incongruous to isolate any single aspect as standing out, but Tom Courtney, as the menacing Quilp becomes the very heart of Evil around which all this revolves. And a more entertaining Evil you will never see. He makes Quilp a fascination first to last.This is a recommendation for anyone; and a must-see for Dickens fans.

Barney-39 I rented this video mistakenly believing that it was a Masterpiece Theater offering. Initially, I was disappointed to see in the credits that it came from the Disney Channel. But only 15 minutes into the story, I realized that this was an excellent adaptation of Dicken's story. The period atmosphere was excellent, as were the costumes and sets. The acting was first-rate, particularly that of Tom Courtney as Quilp and Sally Walsh as Little Nell. Both of these parts could have been played too broadly by less accomplished actors. Sally Walsh's role could have easily become cloying, but she played it with radiant innocence. The villain, Quilp, might well have turned into a scenery-chewing, comic overstatement played by anyone but Courtney. I highly recommend this mini-series to anyone who enjoys film adaptations of 19th century British novels.