guymdb

As a huge fan of the novel and an avid viewer of the many adaptations, I am staggered that this film received such lukewarm reviews. Many people have said it "brings nothing new", but why does it have to? It's a solid version for a new generation.

This is by far the best-looking adaptation - visually gorgeous throughout. The all-star cast is excellent, especially Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch, Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham and Robbie Coltrane as Jaggers. I jokingly refer to this as the Harry Potter version of Great Expectations, since the director and many of the actors have been involved with the Potter franchise.

Although some secondary subplots and characters are left out due to time constraints, the screenplay by David Nicholls is remarkably faithful for a two-hour movie.

If you want the most faithful adaptation, see the brilliant 1981 BBC miniseries starring Joan Hickson. However, in my opinion, this 2012 film surpasses David Lean's classic 1946 film and is incomparably better than the 2011 miniseries starring Gillian Anderson.

I urge you to watch it and ignore the naysayers.

"The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" has always been my favourite Roald Dahl story so I've been looking forward to this film for months, especially since I heard that Benedict Cumberbatch was going to be playing the lead - this is absolutely perfect casting! I was praying it would be a faithful adaptation and I wasn't disappointed!

I was worried when I saw it was only 37 minutes long, but it's incredibly dense for such a short film. Wes Anderson's quirky style is ideal for adapting Roald Dahl. It's like seeing a bedtime story come alive! It's beautifully shot and features a stellar cast including Cumberbatch, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes (as Roald Dahl), Dev Patel, Richard Ayoade and Rupert Friend.

10/10!

I had such high hopes for this film after seeing all the positive reviews from critics, and Paul Mescal's wonderful performance in Normal People, but what a disappointment!

There's no story, no exposition, no character development. We learn very little about Paul Mescal's character Calum's past, or the reason for his depression, and consequently we don't care about these characters.

The film is supposedly about an adult daughter looking back on a holiday she spent as an 11-year-old with her estranged father, but I don't know how you're supposed to know that. At first I thought the adult daughter was Calum's wife!

Frankie Corio as the young daughter Sophie is a talented actress - she has a bright future. And she and Paul Mescal have good chemistry together. But that's the best I can say about this film.

It's literally like looking at a stranger's holiday snaps for 90 minutes. Vastly overrated!