Nicholas Nickleby
Tags: cruelty, intrigue, flashback, romantic, melodrama, tragedy, revenge

Plot synopsis:
Nicholas Nickleby's father dies unexpectedly after losing all of his money in a poor investment. Nicholas, his mother and his younger sister, Kate, are forced to give up their comfortable lifestyle in Devonshire and travel to London to seek the aid of their only relative, Nicholas's uncle, Ralph Nickleby. Ralph, a cold and ruthless businessman, has no desire to help his destitute relations and hates Nicholas, who reminds him of his dead brother, on sight. He gets Nicholas a low-paying job as an assistant to Wackford Squeers, who runs the school Dotheboys Hall in Yorkshire. Nicholas is initially wary of Squeers (a very unpleasant man with one eye) because he is gruff and violent towards his young charges, but he tries to quell his suspicions. As Nicholas boards the stagecoach for Greta Bridge, he is handed a letter by Ralph's clerk, Newman Noggs. A once-wealthy businessman, Noggs lost his fortune, became a drunk, and had no other recourse but to seek employment with Ralph, whom he loathes. The letter expresses concern for him as an innocent young man, and offers assistance if Nicholas ever requires it. Once he arrives in Yorkshire, Nicholas comes to realise that Squeers is running a scam: he takes in unwanted children (most of whom are illegitimate, crippled or deformed) for a high fee, and starves and mistreats them while using the money sent by their parents, who only want to get them out of their way, to pad his own pockets. Squeers and his monstrous wife whip and beat the children regularly, while spoiling their own son. Lessons are no better; they show how poorly educated Squeers himself is and he uses the lessons as excuses to send the boys off on chores. While he is there, Nicholas befriends a simple boy named Smike, who is older than the other "students" and now acts as an unpaid servant. Nicholas attracts the attention of Fanny Squeers, his employer's plain and shrewish daughter, who deludes herself into thinking that Nicholas is in love with her. She attempts to disclose her affections during a game of cards, but Nicholas doesn't catch her meaning. Instead he ends up flirting with her friend Tilda Price, to the consternation of both Fanny and Tilda's friendly but crude-mannered fiancé John Browdie. After being accosted by Fanny again, Nicholas bluntly tells her he does not return her affections and wishes to be free of the horrible atmosphere of Dotheboys Hall, earning her enmity.
Fanny uses her new-found loathing of Nicholas to make life difficult for the only friend he has at the school: Smike, whom Squeers takes to beating more and more frequently. One day Smike runs away, but is caught and brought back to Dotheboys. Squeers begins to beat him, but Nicholas intervenes. Squeers strikes him across the face and Nicholas snaps, beating the schoolmaster violently. During the fight, Fanny steps in and attacks Nicholas, hating him for rejecting her love. Nicholas ignores her and goes on to beat Squeers bloody. Quickly packing his belongings and leaving Dotheboys Hall, he meets John Browdie on the way. Browdie finds the idea that Squeers himself has been beaten uproariously funny, and gives Nicholas money and a walking staff to aid him on his trip back to London. At dawn, he is found by Smike, who begs to come with him. Nicholas and Smike set out towards London. Among other things, Nicholas wants to find out what Squeers is going to tell his uncle.
Meanwhile, Kate and her mother are forced by Ralph to move out of their lodgings in the house of the kindly portrait painter Miss LaCreevy and into a cold and drafty house Ralph owns in a London slum. Ralph finds employment for Kate working for a fashionable milliner, Madame Mantalini. Her husband, Mr Mantalini, is a gigolo who depends on his (significantly older) wife to supply his extravagant tastes, and offends Kate by leering at her. Kate proves initially clumsy at her job, which endears her to the head of the showroom, Miss Knag, a vain and foolish woman who uses Kate to make herself look better. This backfires when a client prefers to be served by the young and pretty Kate rather than the ageing Miss Knag. Kate is blamed for the insult, and as a result, Kate is ostracised by the other milliners and left friendless.
Nicholas seeks out the aid of Newman Noggs, who shows him a letter that Fanny Squeers has written to Ralph. It viciously exaggerates the events of the beating and slanders Nicholas. They suspect Ralph secretly knows the truth, but is latching onto Fanny's account to further persecute Nicholas. Noggs tells Nicholas, who is intent on confronting his uncle, that Ralph is out of town and advises him to find a job. Nicholas goes to an employment office, where he encounters a strikingly beautiful girl. His search for employment fails, and he is about to give up when Noggs offers him the meagre position of French teacher to the children of his neighbours, the Kenwigs family, and Nicholas is hired under the assumed name of "Johnson" to teach the children French.
Ralph asks Kate to attend a dinner he is hosting for some business associates. When she arrives she discovers she is the only woman in attendance, and it becomes clear Ralph is using her as bait to entice the foolish nobleman Lord Frederick Verisopht to do business with him. The other guests include Verisopht's mentor and friend, the disreputable nobleman Sir Mulberry Hawk, who humiliates Kate at dinner by making her the subject of an offensive bet. She flees the table, but is later accosted by Hawk. He attempts to force himself on her but is stopped by Ralph. Ralph shows some unexpected tenderness towards Kate but insinuates that he will withdraw his financial help if she tells her mother about what happened.
The next day, Nicholas discovers that his uncle has returned. He visits his mother and sister just as Ralph is reading them Fanny Squeers' letter and slandering Nicholas. He confronts his uncle, who vows to give no financial assistance to the Nicklebys as long as Nicholas stays with them. His hand forced, Nicholas agrees to leave London, but warns Ralph that a day of reckoning will one day come between them.
The next morning, Nicholas and Smike travel towards Portsmouth with the intention of becoming sailors. At an inn, they encounter the theatrical manager Vincent Crummles, who hires Nicholas (still going under the name of Johnson) on sight. Nicholas is the new juvenile lead, and also playwright, with the task of adapting French tragedies into English and then modifying them for the troupe's minimal dramatic abilities. Nicholas and Smike join the acting company and are warmly received by the troupe, which includes Crummles's formidable wife, their daughter, "The Infant Phenomenon", and many other eccentric and melodramatic thespians. Nicholas and Smike make their debuts in Romeo and Juliet, as Romeo and the Apothecary respectively, and are met with great acclaim from the provincial audiences. Nicholas enjoys a flirtation with his Juliet, the lovely Miss Snevellici.
Back in London, Mr Mantalini's reckless spending has bankrupted his wife. Madame Mantalini is forced to sell her business to Miss Knag, whose first order of business is to fire Kate. She finds employment as the companion of the social-climbing Mrs Wittiterly. Meanwhile, Sir Mulberry Hawk begins a plot to humiliate Kate for refusing his advances. He uses Lord Frederick, who is infatuated with her, to discover where she lives from Ralph. He is about to succeed in this plot when Mrs Nickleby enters Ralph's office, and the two rakes switch their attentions from Kate's uncle to her mother, successfully worming their way into Mrs Nickleby's company and gaining access to the Wittiterly house. Mrs. Wittiterly grows jealous and admonishes Kate for flirting with the noblemen. The unfairness of this accusation makes Kate so angry that she rebukes her employer, who flies into a fit of hysterics. With no other recourse, Kate goes to her uncle for assistance, but he refuses to help her, citing his business relationships with Hawk and Verisopht. It is left to Newman Noggs to come to her aid, and he writes to Nicholas, telling him in vague terms of his sister's urgent need of him. Nicholas immediately quits the Crummles troupe and returns to London.
Noggs and Miss La Creevy confer, and decide to delay telling Nicholas of Kate's plight until it is too late at night for him to seek out Hawk and take violent action. So, when Nicholas arrives, both Noggs and Miss La Creevy are out. Nicholas is about to search the city for them when he accidentally overhears Hawk and Lord Frederick rudely toasting Kate in a coffeehouse. He is able to glean from their conversation what has happened, and confronts them. Hawk refuses to give Nicholas his name or respond to his accusations. When he attempts to leave, Nicholas follows him out, and leaps onto the running board of his carriage, demanding his name. Hawk strikes him with a riding crop, and Nicholas loses his temper, returning the blow and spooking the horses, causing the carriage to crash. Hawk is injured in the crash and vows revenge, but Lord Verisopht, remorseful for his treatment of Kate, tells him that he will attempt to stop him. Later, after Hawk has recovered, they quarrel over Hawk's insistence on revenging himself against Nicholas. Verisopht strikes Hawk, resulting in a duel. Verisopht is killed, and Hawk flees to France. As a result, Ralph loses a large sum of money owed to him by the deceased lord.
Nicholas collects Kate from the Wittiterlys, and with their mother and Smike, they move back into Miss LaCreevy's house. Nicholas pens a letter to Ralph, refusing, on behalf of his family, a penny of his uncle's money or influence. Returning to the employment office, Nicholas meets Charles Cheeryble, a wealthy and extremely benevolent merchant who runs a business with his twin brother Ned. Hearing Nicholas's story, the brothers take him into their employ at a generous salary and provide his family with a small house in a London suburb.
Ralph encounters a beggar, who recognises him and reveals himself as Brooker, Ralph's former employee. He attempts to blackmail Ralph with a piece of unknown information, but is driven off. Returning to his office, Ralph receives Nicholas's letter and begins plotting against his nephew in earnest. Wackford Squeers returns to London and joins Ralph in his plots.
Smike, on a London street, has the misfortune to run into Squeers, who kidnaps him. Luckily for Smike, John Browdie is honeymooning in London with his new wife Tilda and discovers his predicament. When they have dinner with Squeers, Browdie fakes an illness and takes the opportunity to rescue Smike and send him back to Nicholas. In gratitude, Nicholas invites the Browdies to dinner. At the party, also attended by the Cheerybles's nephew Frank and their elderly clerk Tim Linkinwater, Ralph and Squeers attempt to reclaim Smike by presenting forged documents to the effect that he is the long-lost son of a man named Snawley (who, in actuality, is a friend of Squeers with children at Dotheboys Hall). Smike refuses to go, but the threat of legal action remains.
While at work, Nicholas encounters the beautiful young woman he had seen in the employment office and realises he is in love with her. The brothers tell him that her name is Madeline Bray, the penniless daughter of a debtor, Walter Bray, and enlist his help in obtaining small sums of money for her by commissioning her artwork, the only way they can help her due to her tyrannical father.
Arthur Gride, an elderly miser, offers to pay a debt Ralph is owed by Walter Bray in exchange for the moneylender's help. Gride has illegally gained possession of the will of Madeline's grandfather, and she will become an heiress upon the event of her marriage. The two moneylenders persuade Bray to bully his daughter into accepting the disgusting Gride as a husband, with the promise of paying off his debts. Ralph is not aware of Nicholas's involvement with the Brays, and Nicholas does not discover Ralph's scheme until the eve of the wedding. He appeals to Madeline to cancel the wedding, but despite her feelings for Nicholas, she is too devoted to her dying father to go against his wishes. On the day of the wedding, Nicholas attempts to stop it once more but his efforts prove academic when Bray, guilt-ridden at the sacrifice his daughter has made for him, dies unexpectedly. Madeline thus has no reason to marry Gride and Nicholas and Kate take her to their house to recover.
Smike has contracted tuberculosis and become dangerously ill. In a last attempt to save his friend's health, Nicholas takes him to his childhood home in Devonshire, but Smike's health rapidly deteriorates. On his deathbed, Smike is startled to see the man who brought him to Squeers' school. Nicholas dismisses it as an illusion but it is later revealed that Smike was right. After confessing his love for Kate, Smike dies peacefully in Nicholas's arms.
When they return to Gride's home after the aborted wedding, Ralph and Gride discover that Peg Sliderskew, Gride's aged housekeeper, has robbed Gride, taking, amongst other things, the will. To get it back, Ralph enlists Wackford Squeers's services to track down Peg. Noggs discovers this plot, and with the help of Frank Cheeryble, he is able to recover the will and have Squeers arrested.
The Cheeryble brothers confront Ralph, informing him that his various schemes against Nicholas have failed. They advise him to retire from London before charges are brought up against him, as Squeers is determined to confess all and implicate Ralph. He refuses their help, but is summoned back to their offices that evening and told that Smike is dead. When he reacts to the news with vicious glee, the brothers reveal their final card. The beggar Brooker emerges, and tells Ralph that Smike was his own son. As a young man, Ralph had married a woman for her fortune, but kept it secret so she would not forfeit her inheritance for marrying without her brother's consent, and wait for the brother to die. She eventually left him after bearing him a son, whom he entrusted to Brooker, who was then his clerk. Brooker, taking the opportunity for vengeance, took the boy to Squeers' school and told Ralph the boy had died. Brooker now repents his action, but a transportation sentence kept him from putting the matter right. Devastated at the thought that his only son died as the best friend of his greatest enemy, Ralph commits suicide. His ill-gotten fortune ends up in the state coffers because he died intestate and his estranged relatives decline to claim it.
Squeers is sentenced to transportation to Australia, and, upon hearing this, the boys at Dotheboys Hall rebel against the Squeers family and escape with the assistance of John Browdie. Nicholas becomes a partner in the Cheerybles' firm and marries Madeline. Kate and Frank Cheeryble also marry, as do Tim Linkinwater and Miss LaCreevy. Brooker dies penitent. Noggs recovers his respectability. The Nicklebys and their now extended family return to Devonshire, where they live in peace and contentment and grieve over Smike's grave.

Review: Writer/director Douglas McGrath has done a splendid job bringing Charles Dickens' delightful novel 'Nicholas Nickleby' to the big screen.
'Nickleby' is quintessential Dickens in its mixture of sentiment and satire; its finely drawn characters and caricatures; its clear cut delineation of good and evil, hero and villain; its melodramatic and coincidence-ridden plotting; and its championing of the downtrodden underclass of 19th Century England.
Like many of Dickens' protagonists, Nicholas is a young man who is forced by circumstances (in this case the death of his father) to leave the comfort and security of his home and family and to venture forth to make his way in the world.
The film's finest performance comes from the ubiquitous Christopher Plummer as Nicholas' evil Uncle Ralph.
Speculation and family chaos rule his `Nicholas Nickleby,' directed on film by Douglas McGrath (`Emma') and starring Christopher Plummer as cold Uncle Ralph and Jim Broadbent as cruel Wackford Squeers.The idyllic thatched cottage in Devonshire with its white smoke pluming to heaven contrasts sharply with the dark satanic mills of London spewing black smoke into every home and hovel.
All seems well represented without being overdone or obvious.Like a good Dickens novel, the filmed `Nicholas Nickleby' can't help but drive home lessons about honesty and family.
Stunning photography, outrageous characters and a powerful, emotional story: that's Nicholas Nickleby, the 2002 adaptation from the famous book by Charles Dickens.
With a Dickens story, you know there will be a lot to overcome, too, and lots of suffering and heartache along the way to a happy ending.Douglas McGrathdid a fine job directing this film.
This movie is a treat for the ears, as well.Charlie Hunnam as Nicholas Nickleby was adequate; Christopher Plummer as his Uncle Ralph was very good and Jamie Bell as the unforgettable "Smike" was excellent.
After a brief interval as an actor, Nicholas returns to London to be reunited with his family.Dickens's villains are generally more memorable than his heroes (and even more so than his heroines, who are often rather colourless), and that is reflected in this film.
The performances that stand out, however, are from Jim Broadbent as the vicious Squeers, Juliet Stephenson as his equally unpleasant wife, Edward Fox as the dissipated lecher Sir Mulberry (who turns his attentions to Madeline when he realises that Kate is not for him) and Christopher Plummer as Ralph, outwardly calm and rational but inwardly cold and stony-hearted, a man who cares for nobody except himself and for nothing except his bank balance.
This is a very good Dickens adaptation, on a par with Polanski's film and much better than Alfonso Cuaron's eccentric "Great Expectations".
In many ways he has succeded.The story of how Nicholas avenge his dead father and in the process finds love and happiness is told with great assurance from the director and his notable players, some of the most brilliant figures in the English stage and films.
The closest we can come to liking Dickens is Blackadder's Christmas Carol.What our perceptions are, will not be so elite as my fellow commenters here, but if you want a straight unbiased perspective on this film, do read on.We found the acting inspirationally good.
The last comment said the acting was terrible, but really, it was fantastic, so I don't think they even watched beyond like 15 minutes of the film or whatever point they believed it deviated from the book.
Let's face it, I haven't even read the book, but I know it would take many hours of time like the extended versions of the complete Lord of the Rings to capture it faithfully, in which case I wouldn't have finished watching it because it would be a) too damn long and b) far too boring because it'd be faithfully like Dickens.
But what I missed story-wise was partly made up by the acting of Christopher Plummer as Ralph Nickleby and the heartrending performance of Jamie "Billie Elliot' Bell as Smike.
This film seems like it is in a hurry to get to the closing credits, which in one sense is great because it's not very good.The movie begins with Young Nicholas (Charlie Hunnam) and his family enjoying a comfortable, idyllic life.
Eventually, Nicholas runs away with schoolmate Smike (Jamie Bell), and the two set off to bring the Nickleby family back together.There are some good elements.
But when realization ineluctably dawns, Plummer's intense acting blasts from the screen figuratively lowering the theater temperature with a gripping chill.Charles Dickens, of course, had a special interest in the conditions of life for both children in general and those, losing fortunes through no fault of their own, who descend to early nineteenth century England's dank houses (and schools) of horror.
By having Vincent Crummles,a relatively minor character in the original, take center stage and become the narrator/presenter of the opening and closing scenes of the film, the director offers his own slant on Dickens's love of theatre and theatricallity.
He would love this film.'Nicholas Nickleby' is only the second adaptation and directorial triumph of Douglas McGrath.
Dickens gives us a cross section of Victorian society--rich and poor, good and evil, comfortable and wretched.The film does justice to this masterpiece-- the children suffering under a cruel schoolmaster appear truly sick, hungry, and miserable.
Romola Garai	as	Kate Nickleby and Anne Hathaway	as Madeline Bray are both suitably charming.Juliet Stevenson	is remarkable as the sadistic Mrs. Squeers, and  Jim Broadbent	 is superb as her (truly) loving husband, the equally sadistic Wackford Squeers.Christopher Plummer	portrays the evil uncle,	Ralph Nickleby, to perfection.
I really disliked this movie, so much so I watched sometime last year and was so annoyed I couldn't sit down and write a review.I saw The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby before this and absolutely loved it.
This version had some actors I liked Christopher Plummer, Jim Broadbent, Juliet Stevenson, Timothy Spall amongst others but their roles were not at all large enough to make this film worth watching if you happen to be a fan of any of them.So what were my qualms?
It is very good though, there is this beautiful paragraph in the second chapter where Dickens describes an area near Ralph Nickleby's house which could never be communicated in film, so you should read it too.
these two succeed where everyone else fails because they are never to be taken seriously anyway, but are simply characters in the theatre of the absurd, and so fit in perfectly with the rest of this terribly terribly feeble attempt at bringing Dickens' characters to life.If you want to watch an excellent version of this story, watch the 2001 film with James D'Arcy in the title role.
NICHOLAS NICKLEBY (2002) ***1/2 Charlie Hunnam, Christopher Plummer, Jamie Bell, Jim Broadbent, Anne Hathaway, Tom Courtenay, Alan Cumming, Edward Fox, Romola Garai, Stella Gonet, Barry Humphries, Nathan Lane, Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson.
Wonderfully entertaining realization of Charles Dickens' literary classic about the good natured 19th Century titular young man (nicely played by the dashingly handsome Hunnam of late of the beloved tv series `Undeclared') whose adventures of the heart and destiny begin when his father suddenly dies leaving him in the care of his family resorting to their only living relation in London, the wealthy yet contemptable Uncle Ralph (Plummer in game form; disdainfully dour) whose life ambition outside of accumulating wealth apparently is to make his nephew's existence a living hell.
The supporting thespian work here is strong: the word has leaked that Christopher Plummer's role as the malevolent uncle who manipulates Nicholas and his family did not go down the drain; Jim Broadbent again bents all the rules of aesthetic acting by playing the vanity-challenged boarding schoolmaster with the scrupulous temperament that only Broadbent can deliver.
Oh yes, the film does succeed in presenting the viewers with what seems to be Dickens' satire of three different sets of environment:  the world of the London moneylender, that of the Yorkshire school  (hey, Yorkshire schoolmasters were deemed to be notoriously evil in the Victorian era), and of the touring stage company (somewhat theatrical, no doubt, but still interesting for Dickens did have a keen eye for the stage!) With a great top-notch British, Canadian and American ensemble of actors whose team interaction is of a classic quality, this film is worth taking time off to see.
Charles Dickens classic Nicholas Nickleby gets a fine remake in this 2002 version with Charles Hunnam in the title role.
The best scene in the film is the death scene of the crippled and sickly Smike with Jamie Bell giving so far a career role performance.Hunnam's antagonist throughout the film is his Uncle Ralph played by Christopher Plummer.
To my surprising delight, Douglas McGrath did an admirable adaptation and with a stellar cast of 'heavies': Christopher Plummer, Tom Courtenay, Jim Broadbent, Edward Fox, Nathan Lane, and Timothy Spall, with Juliet Stevenson, Alan Cumming, Dame Edna, along with Charlie Hunnam in the lead role, Jaime Bell as Smike, Anne Hathaway as Madeline - it was fabulous, indeed.
Of course, it's the usual Charles Dickens tale of the good will triumph over the evil, not without much struggle and hard work to earn the happy ending - but McGrath made it much bearable, even with amusement, than the 1946 black and white version (1 hr.
The dramatic acting by Charlie Hunman, Jamie Bell, and nearly every other character makes this a movie in which everyone should watch..
Ralph Nickelby is one of the great wicked characters of literature and he venomously hates Nicholas from the start and uses Kate to get at him.....in the film at the beginning we quite like Ralph.
Christopher Plummer, (Ralph Nickleby),"Blizzard",'03, gave an outstanding performance as an uncle who you will grow to hate, mainly by his good acting and the person he creates on the screen.
Douglas McGrath's `Nicholas Nickleby' is a ruthlessly simplified version of the novel that comes close to being a generic picture of what Dickens' world contains.
And isn't goodness finally what matters above all else?`Nicholas Nickleby's' eventful and rather lurid plot puts one in a frame of mind to contemplate human misery and to long for the triumph of goodness.Anyway, the last scene, at a graveyard, ending the story with death as it began, made me cry the rightful Dickensian tears.
The standouts include Christopher Plummer, as Nicholas' tirelessly wicked and heartless uncle Ralph; James Broadbent, as the malevolent headmaster Wackford Squeers; Jamie Bell, as the aforementioned Smike-he uses all his talents as a dancer to produce a most captivating Dickensian limp, and his small, pinched face reveals sorrow and love with heartbreaking economy; Tom Courtenay (typically stoical and real)  as Ralph's sad assistant Newman Noggs; Edward Fox as the sexually predatory aristocrat Sir Mulberry Hawk.
(But at least he made for good eye candy.)  The only decent actors in the movie were Romola Garai (Kate Nickleby, Nicholas's sister) and Christopher Plummer (Ralph Nickleby, the evil rich uncle), but they were not enough to save the movie.At least I was able to get a few laughs out of it - some scenes were so bad that they were downright funny!.
Jamie Bell, as the crippled Smike, steals every scene that he is present in, delivering a marvelously rich performance which is in sharp contrast to the two tone performance that Charlie Hunnam gives as Nicholas Nickleby.
The supporting cast, including stellar performances from Jim Broadbent and Christopher Plummer, both malevolent in their own ways (without going too far over the top) and such unexpected turns as Barry Humphries and Timothy Spall (playing against his usual stereotype), manage to inflate life into the script and, in the end, deliver a film that is just above great, but not quite reaching classic..
Good adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel.The story of a young man, Nicholas Nickleby (played by Charlie Hunnam).
Does drift in parts though.Good performances from the main cast, generally - Charlie Hunnam, Christopher Plummer, Jamie Bell, Jim Broadbent, Romola Garai, Tom Courtenay, Anne Hathaway.
because it is a beautiful movie and its beauty is result not only for the inspiration of director and exemplary choice of cast but for the recreation, with care and precision, of a world atmosphere, the powerful images, the great performance, the Dickens spirit, together, makes the entire work more than a common adaptation.
Nicholas, played with absolutely charm and believability by Charlie Hunnam, grows up as his adventures take him from Wackford Squeer's prison-like school for abandoned children to the dazzlingly colorful theatrical troupe run my Mr. And Mrs. Crummles--Nathan Lane, perfectly mated with Barry Humphreys in Victorian drag; Director McGrath and crew accurately reflect Dicken's contrasts of the dark sooty city of London and the halcyon greenery of the country, and while dozens of the novel's characters have been sacrificed to time, the true tenor and spirit of the novel, which includes Nicolas, the girl he loves and the faithful sadly twisted Smike, remains intact.This is a lovely adaptation of a long and complex book and the commitment of the cast and crew is wholly evident, producing a Dickens gem that captures the essence of the great novel in just over two hours..
Now, Nicholas, his lovely sister, Kate (Romola Garai) and their mother are at the mercy of a rich uncle, Ralph Nickleby (Christopher Plummer).
Nicholas Nickleby before watching this film was not a Dickens novel which appealed to me.
Jamie Bell as Smike just makes you want to take care of him, Charlie Hunnam makes you wish you had a brother just like Nicholas, Jim Broadbent as Squeers makes you want to beat him black and blue to teach him a lesson and Christopher Plummer as Nicholas' nasty uncle make you want to hiss and boo when he appears on screen..
Loved Charlie Hunnam,  Romola Garai, Jim Broadbent, Juliet Stevenson, Jamie Bell, Sophie Thompson, Anne Hathaway, Christopher Plummer, Tom Courtenay...there were so many good performances,I can't remember them all.
After watching the screener of this movie, I can give it no higher praise higher than i enjoyed it more than Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, which i thought to be my favorite film.Nicholas Nickleby contains emotions so strong, that you cannot help but feel pity, joy, and the sadness for the characters involved.
Nicholas Nickleby is a film about moral absolutes (good vs evil).
From the "theatrically talented" Nathan Lane, Dame Edna and Highland dancing Alan Cummin (don't ask) to the old farts I so love (Timothy Spalls, Jim Broadbent, and Plummer), from those nice looking chicks (Romola Garai and Anne Hathaway) to the pretty boys (Bell and Charlie "NN" Hunnam), all demographics are covered.
From the beloved Charles Dickens novel comes the story of Nicholas Nickleby and his family.
A wonderful theatrically rich production with excellent supporting cast (Nathan Lane, Juliet Stephenson and Jamie Ellis will now be my definitive view of those Dickens characters) but Charlie Hunnam was not strong enough as the lead.
The master of Dickens' characters were supremely played, especially by Charlie Hunnam, Jamie Bell, Christopher Plummer and Jim Broadbent.
And to be sure, lifeblood-sucking evil as shown by the Uncle Ralph character is certainly alive and well and exists everywhere in our society (our government is composed of people like that).I need to believe in the existence of people like Nicholas Nickleby, and of the possibilities of individual power, friendship such as he had with the Jamie Bell character, Smike (and if THAT, too, wasn't the most brilliant casting, I don't know what is), familial love as he faithfully retained for his sister and mother, and all the other forms of heart that he displayed with so many of the characters...he was truly inspiring.
Although it was not a famous novel and the actors of the movie are not stars, the movie is still very interesting from the beginning to the end.Nicholas is such a typical character created by Charles Dicken.
i think what i'm trying to say is that dickens has written a story in which the message is universal, to everyone, in one way or another, and the people involved in making the film have made this acessible to those who do not have the patience to read the book, and in doing so have produced a film which should be watched and enjoyed by everyone.in short, the film was beautiful, the acting was brilliant and i loved it!.
Douglas McGrath made the fourth adaptation of Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby by writing the screenplay and directed this film that tells the story of how a teenager manages to become the head of the family when his father died.Charlie Hunnam plays the title role together with a cast of talented actors and actresses like Nathan Lane,Christopher Plummer and Anne Hathaway.After the unexpected death of his father,Nicholas watched over his mother and his sister Kate.Big challenges came when they realized that the father lost the family fortune due to bad investments.This makes Nicholas to seek help of his Uncle Ralph for help.He also becomes a teacher in a school of unfortunate boys that is run by Wackford Squeers and his wife.Due to all three - his uncle and the Squeers couple - being cruel and did not treat him well,he decided to run away and meets the eccentric Vincent Crummles and his fortune changes for the better.This is an absolutely well-acted,well-directed and an entertaining adaptation a Dickens serial.Aside from that,it was has a great theme about the triumph of good over evil.Despite the fact that it has a fast pace as the event happen very quickly due to its lengthy source,it was definitely a worthy adaptation of Dickens' work as it was able to tell the complete story within the time allotted for the film..
Nicholas Nickleby, directed by Douglas McGrath, is the story of a young man's journey to find the love of his life.