Blu-rays, DVDs & more
eBay affliate link
Art of the Movies
Buy posters on MoviePoster.com
IMDb
Nicholas Nickleby movie stills
Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: A terrific adaptation with a delightful cast and a speedy pace that defies belief, considering its lengthy source. Read more
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: This is too much of a trifle to be considered a great Dickens film, but it's a pure-hearted adaptation bolstered by at least a dozen wonderful performances. Read more
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: It's no easy trick to resist the charms of Douglas McGrath's Nicholas Nickleby, and anyone starved for a nice hats-and-corsets literary adaptation certainly isn't up to the task. Read more
Tom Long, Detroit News: It's just sort of there, one more adaptation of a long rambling Charles Dickens soap opera well-stocked with respected British actors playing painfully stereotypical characters. Read more
Robert K. Elder, Chicago Tribune: McGrath's version of Nicholas Nickleby cashes in on age-old show biz wisdom of 'always leave 'em wanting more.' Read more
A.O. Scott, New York Times: The director has produced a colorful, affecting collage of Dickensian moods and motifs, a movie that elicits an overwhelming desire to plunge into 900 pages of 19th-century prose. Read more
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: If you really want a taste of this classic, rent the video of the RSC production. But if you're only looking for a charming time passer, this movie is just the thing. Read more
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: The movie's a rambunctious joy. Read more
Manohla Dargis, Los Angeles Times: Like the Dickens novel on which it's based, director Douglas McGrath's Nicholas Nickleby overcomes the earnest blandness of its eponymous hero with wonderful side characters. Read more
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle: With Dickens' words and writer-director Douglas McGrath's even-toned direction, a ripping good yarn is told. Read more
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Trust and deceit, generosity and meanness are fleshed out by a deft cast. Read more
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: If not every scene bears the Masterpiece Theatre seal of authenticity, the parade of vividly drawn characters is always good fun. Read more
Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: The entire movie has a truncated feeling, but what's available is lovely and lovable. Read more
Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: McGrath has deftly trimmed Dickens' wonderfully sprawling soap opera, the better to focus on the hero's odyssey from cowering poverty to courage and happiness. Read more
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: The film is enriched by an imaginatively mixed cast of antic spirits, headed by Christopher Plummer as the subtlest and most complexly evil Uncle Ralph I've ever seen in the many film and stage adaptations of the work. Read more
James Berardinelli, ReelViews: As a means to bring a classic novel to the attention of a modern audience, McGrath's Nicholas Nickleby is a success. Read more
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The movie is jolly and exciting and brimming with life, and wonderfully well-acted. Read more
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: To paraphrase a line from another Dickens' novel, Nicholas Nickleby is too much like a fragment of an underdone potato. Read more
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: A generous tale, told through big performances by a talented cast, presenting a range of colorful characters that only Dickens could have created. Read more
Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Read more
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: There's a bevy of hiss-worthy baddies to pick up the dramatic slack, beginning with Plummer's wonderfully nefarious Uncle Ralph. Read more
Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine: A beguiling evocation of the quality that keeps Dickens evergreen: the exuberant openness with which he expresses our most basic emotions. Read more
Claudia Puig, USA Today: This mid-19th century tale of survival after the death of a parent is still compelling today, and its message of strength and the importance of family continues to resonate. Read more
Jessica Winter, Village Voice: Unwieldy contraption. Read more