I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

First-rate adaptation of a typical Dickens story. An old man given to gambling (Ustinov) and his granddaughter, Little Nell (Sally Walsh), find themselves broke and being dunned by the money lender, Quilp (Tom Courtenay). Unable to pay off Ustinov's debts, the pair sneak off with very little money and make for the West Country, by the sea, where they run into various sorts of strangers, some kind, some treacherous. All the way, Quilp's minions are after them. It isn't the money that bothers Quilp. It's the possibility that if Ustinov and Walsh escape, others will no longer fear him.A surprising number of names have entered our Lexicon from Dickens' works, considering that he was an English novelist from the 1840s who is rarely read by most of the people who recognize names like Ebeneezer Scrooge, Mr. Bumble, Fagin, The Artful Dodger, and Little Nell. What better name can we have for the lawyer in this movie than Sampson Brass? Dickens sort of edges crabwise into our consciousness every once in a while. You know, "God bless us, every one." Or, "If that is the law, then the law, sir, is a ass." Or, "Please, sir, I want some more." He didn't make up Simon Legree, although he should have. Dickens was all alight with social conscience, especially where children were concerned. And when poverty hit, it could be severe, as his works illustrate.This film captures some of the poverty but not as well as David Lean's earlier adaptation of Dickens. The film is made for TV but the production values are still good and the design evocative. The Old Curiosity Shop is filled with all kinds of junk -- ticking clocks, suits of armor, stuffed antelope heads, dolls. Looks rather like my place. The sets and outdoor locations are hardly vast. This isn't an epic production. But they're evocative and clever.The performances are all fine as well. The cockney accents are sometimes daunting and some words must be understood in context, as when "child" becomes "chow." Of course, the Dickensian dialog can be peerless. "Oh, joy! What a reversal of desolation!" (Sometimes it sounds like W. C. Fields, only Dickens makes it less deliberately pompous.) Acting: Good, all around, but Tom Courtenay, as Daniel Quilp, has never given a better performance. Courtenay is no longer recognizable as the clean-cut innocent young man of forty years ago. (Who is?) Quilp's criminally fraudulent money lender is an affable, greedy, kyphotic, snaggletoothed hobgoblin of a bugaboo. He's as coarse as they come. It would have been easy to treat the role seriously and turn Quilp into an unalloyed and generic personification of evil, but Courtenay gives him character. He smiles with sarcasm and makes gargoyle faces at people.Peter Ustinov is stiff with age, alas, though it fits the role, and Sally Walsh as Little Nell is winsome, perceptive, and ultimately vulnerable. Infectious diseases abounded in 1840s Europe. Quilp's office is located on the London docks where an early scene shows us fishermen with nets. It's hard to imagine what they might have caught in the Thames of 1849 except cholera.Pretty much a winner, given that the story isn't as gripping as some of Dickens' other tales. Little Nell may die a peaceful but tragic death, yet she doesn't have to wait around to have her head cut off by a guillotine.

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.

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.

This TV series is really brilliant and more over not as sobbing as Dickens often tend to become. Peter Ustinov is almost a guarantee of success but actually it is Tom Courtenay as Daniel Quilp who makes this rendition of a dramatic tale outstanding. He is nothing less than excellent. His facial expressions are as vivid as Tom Cruise's are not, not to mention his hobgoblin' about.Should you get the opportunity to see it, please don't rob yourself of an exquisite piece of drama.