Our Mutual Friend
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Movie Reviews of Our Mutual Friend
Movie Review: Amazing job with a complicated story
Summary: 5 Stars
I like Dicken's stories for his memorable characters. The good are so kind and innocent and the villains dispicable and rotten. This movie takes its time to develop the personalities and lives of these fascinating people. It's six hours long but you won't want to miss a minute.
Dickens' rats and angels come from all manner of social strata in turn of the century England. No one is free from Dickens scathing critique. The plots are set amidst the backdrop of an aristocracy which is collapsing under its own weight. The middle class grows and the born-rich are forced to socialize with "new" money. How distasteful! Even the poor are not immune to the social structure of the time; a river boatman, who dredges the river for bodies, will not let his son go to school; he must carry on the family trade, like his father did!
The casting is just right and the acting strong. Oh, the faces of these actors and actresses! They say so much without a word spoken. You will fall in love with the hero's and heroine's as they try to figure out what they should do.
I must admit, I like Dickens' evil guys! They are simply awful to the core. One of my favorite scenes is when Riderhood unexpectedly shows up in the school teachers (Mr. Headstone) classroom sitting among the young pupils, sharing his wisdom. After his little lesson, he ruffles a boys hair as he leaves. I wanted to douse the poor lad's head in Lysol. There are a lot of neer-do-wells in this story who need their comeuppance. Dickens does not fail to deliver!
The movie is filmed in London. Often dark and rainy. The scenery and locations are wonderful. The costumes perfect. I love period pieces and this one ranks up there with the best of them.
Movie Review: One of the best Dickens book-to-film adaptions out there
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a superb book-to-film adaption of Charles Dickens' work. The film follows a huge cast of characters, most of whom will in some way be connected, from the heights of London society's most successful to the depths of the abysmally poor waterfront district's inhabitants. As with people, these characters range from very to marginally to not very complex; from good, to bad, to somewhere in between; from likable to unlikable; etc.
When a large fortune goes unclaimed by its intended owner -- who was found dead under mysterious circumstances -- society is aghast to discover that this astonishing wealth is set to pass to a "dust man" and his wife. Innocents are haunted by unspoken accusations of murder; the intended of the dead man sees her chance to escape lower-middle class drudgery vanish; and the "dustman" and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Boffin, must begin their long journey into acceptability by society. This is the backdrop against which most of the story takes place. Cue in the mysterious stranger's arrival, the sinister employee who discovers a long buried will, the machinations of scheming, but moneyless, nobles, the romantic scheming of a bored, selfish man of society, the daily trials of the forgotten poor, etc., etc. -- and you have a true Dickens masterpiece.
The acting in this film is superb. From the Boffins to John Rokesmith, from Bella to Eugene Raybern, Mr. Headstone to Riderhood, Lizzy to Bella's family, etc., etc. -- they are all beyond excellent. The secondary characters as well as the primary play their parts to perfection, painting a tapestry of intrigue, deception, villainy, desperation, honesty and love that is delightful to behold.
5/5 stars -- only because more are not allowed!
Movie Review: Excellent! Just don't do what I did, watching the wrong side first.
Summary: 5 Stars
I tried to watch this DVD months ago and was totally lost. After 1-1/2 hours, I put it away and just now got it out again. I always enjoy Dickens and just had to give it another try, and I'm so glad I did!
I had been trying to watch SIDE 2 before I watched Side 1. I have no idea what I was thinking, but it doesn't work that way. Even worse, at the end of Side 1, I wondered if that was all. Was that the ending? Of course it wasn't. Don't stop there or you'll never see things come together. As you start Side 2, feel free to have a laugh thinking of me as I tried to start the movie at that part. Being 'lost' doesn't even start to explain it. Just don't make my mistake.
In fact, even watching it the right way, from the beginning, you have to pay attention. This isn't a movie you can watch while you sort your socks. You also put in some time before you see the gorgeous backgrounds and clothes of the rich that some of us always enjoy. You get to enjoy the beautiful heroines from the beginning. I won't try to describe the story. That has been done already and just trying to do that makes my head swim. The plot twists and turns.
I did enjoy the side-plot where 2 social climbers find out at their wedding reception that "I don't have any money, don't you?" "No! I have no money. You made a mistake marrying me." OUCH! What a great dilemma, and so fun to watch. Even more fun to watch as they try to recover from their mutual error. That's just a side-plot. The 'real' story also has lots of good vs. evil, tragedy, victory, and everything that makes a Dickens novel. Enjoy!
Movie Review: Great BBC adaptation of a great Dickens novel - but unusual
Summary: 5 Stars
This has all of the qualities of excellent BBC adaptations of classics with one very strange exception: Jenny Wren. One of Dickens' most memorable characters from Our Mutual Friend is certainly Jenny Wren. She is the disabled child of an alcoholic who manages to take care of herself and her father by doing doll dress-making. She does some mischevious things in the novel and you really root for her, as well as sympathizing for her condition. But in this adaptation they chose to have a woman play the part of Jenny who becomes an adult character. So instead of a child who is street-wise and deals with her difficulties using play-acting like a child (who cannot play with children), she becomes a woman who appears a little like a simpleton. It is the strangest thing I've seen in a Dickens adaptation. Certainly this is very enjoyable production and I encourage anyone who likes this movie to read the book. But this is a very curious way to handle this character.
Jenny Wren has been considered in various articles concerning children of alcoholic parents as well as the subject of a Paul McCartney song.
Aside from this one weird thing the production is true to the novel. Regardless of this, it is very enjoyable.
Movie Review: The Best of Dickens
Summary: 5 Stars
No one surpasses Charles Dickens in weaving a good story. His characers are exquisitely drawn--outlandish and refined, horrifying and beautiful--and always wonderfully three-dimensional. This DVD is an excellent adaptation of what, in my opinion, is Dickens's finest book. The story begins in the pestilent riverside rookeries of Victorian London, the Ground Zero of a system where transcendence from the social and economic class one was born into was nearly impossible. As if he were lifting a piece of rotten carpet, the author exposes the dark underbelly of the class system as experienced by the dispossessed, as well as those who are newly wealthy. Dickens's heart clearly lay with those who manage to survive soul-grinding inequities with their moral compass intact. As such, Lizzie Hexam, one of the most noble characters in literature in my opinion, is the heart of the story. She is played with appropriately understated simplicity by the ever luminous Keeley Hawes. The other lead players are also excellent, but it is the array of gifted character actors who really bring this film to life.