To Olivia

Film reviewers seem to be generally not a very bright group pf people, and the negative reviews this film has gotten are absurd. IGNORE THE REVIEWS. This is an excellent film, based on the true story of the writer Roald Dahl and his wife, the Oscar-winning actress Patricia Neal. Hugh Bonneville and Keeley Hawes play the lead roles brilliantly and capture the tragedy they endured when they lost their young daughter Olivia to measles, before the vaccination for this dangerous disease became available in England, where they lived. (Note to any idiotic Anit-Vaxxers reading this - GET YOUR KIDS VACCINATED NOW!) This is a beautiful, very inspirational story.

I have been waiting over a year for this one. Having grown up in the 80's Roald Dahl childhood stories were a staple, then as an adult I'm still attached to the film versions. The film gave me precisely what I wanted. A gorgeous story about Roald Dahl and his family through a difficult time, during the writing of one of my favourite of his books. Hugh Bonneville was perfect as Dahl, and the relationship between him and his wife was full of warmth, love, and humour, which really drew me in from the start. There were plenty of hints towards origins of his many books, but not overdone which would have made it feel forced. There were no long drawn out sections, which I often feel there are in these sort of films, and I thought the pace was perfect for the subject matter. I will definitely be watching it again. I'm only disappointed that it hasn't got the big cinema release it deserves!

I was thoroughly enjoying this film and felt like it was getting to the midway point just to notice it only had 15 mins left to go!!!!

I honestly think they should have made a mini series about Roald Dahl and this been the first episode!

It Was a fantastic story but felt unfinished! The acting was superb and the casting was perfect, BUT It left me longing for more... there are so more stories left untold in regards to his life that I'd loved to have seen too!!

I highly recommend this if you don't expect to have a lot of his life covered only a year or so during a painful part of his career.

It's an emotional story but jumps from scene to scene in parts which I found annoying. The young actress who played Tessa was excellent. Hugh Bonneville was fine as Dahl. Keeley Hawes, my absolutely favourite British actress, is a quintessential English rose and the American accent didn't suit her and wasn't very good. It's often the little things they get wrong that ruin an otherwise good film for me. The 2-year old boy appeared randomly, silent and unmoving and was barely mentioned.. When Roald threw a clod of earth at the window to attract Pat's attention, that clod moved about several times in the scenes that followed, sometimes disappearing altogether then returning in a different place. Don't they have continuity editors any more? Other than that, it was pleasant to watch with a decent storyline but I got a sense of a film that they'd rushed to get finished.

I really enjoyed this movie, despite the sad story. I thought the performances by Hugh Bonneville and Keeley Hawes were outstanding as was the young girl who played Tessa. Sam Heughan as Paul Newman had a small part but wow, he certainly embodied Mr. Newman perfectly. I wanted more scenes between Keeley and Heughan. A very enjoyable movie.