Nicholas Nickleby

 Anne Hathaway managed not to ruin this particular film, but only because she wasn't in it. Although I never really found Madeleine at all sympathetic, this iteration was as unobtrusive, even in her acting, as Dickens wrote her. I liked it. It didn't scream "I'M FAKE!"
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James D'Arcy as Nicholas managed his role quite well, although I'm afraid I compare him at moments unfavorably with the RSC giant Roger Rees. Where Rees played Nicholas as one truly headstrong, if not outright violent, D'Arcy underplays that part of his written character and so comes off as just slightly misunderstood.

The director amped up the violence and sexuality of this film to reflect our no-longer-Victorian times. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I understood completely. It did not detract from the film as a whole, but rather supplemented interpretations for a current audience who may not fully sympathize otherwise.

This version seemed a little abrupt. I felt that perhaps they should have extended this project (and the funding, I suppose) and developed Nicholas's life as an actor more fully. Cutting that out does seem to somehow diminish what little development he might make, as an essentially static character. I also missed the sympathetic light around the fallen character of Lord Verisopht. The producer seems to have cast him as the stereotypical chinless wonder, stuttering and scoliatic, where he might have been a briefly tragic hero, echoing somewhat the favorite A Tale of Two Cities. 


Despite the foreshortening, this version has captured my interest. I appreciated it, and hope more viewers will give it a chance.