Douglas McGrath’s Nicholas Nickleby easily takes prideful place alongside the best cinematic adaptations of Dickens—George Cukor’s David Copperfield, David Lean’s Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, the 1951 A Christmas Carol, Carol Reed’s Oliver. McGrath throws the picaresque tale of Nicholas (Charlie Hunnam) and his travails up on the screen with an emotional immediacy, humor and attention to detail which prove deeply satisfying. It’s a wonderful “read” of the book, concise yet sprawlingly inclusive. You are swept right in from the opening credits—a delightfully telling series of miniatures—through to the bittersweet ending, with the rending death of the crippled Smike (Jamie Bell), Nicholas’ truest friend, and a delightful full-cast gambol on the green. McGrath’s crew—cinematographer Dick Pope, production designer Eve Stewart, costumer Ruth Myers—are all working at the top of their game, and give the film a handsome look, authentic as to detail and at all times appropriate to mood in terms of line and palette.
See filmjournal.com for full review.
