Nicholas Nickleby (2002)

Director:

Douglas McGrath

Writers (WGA):

Charles Dickens (novel)
Douglas McGrath (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 May 2003 (New Zealand)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Every family needs a hero.

Plot:

A young compassionate man struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his coldheartedly grasping uncle.

Plot Keywords:

Father | Sister | Uncle | Mother | Exploitation

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Stella Gonet	...	Mrs. Nickleby
Andrew Havill	...	Mr. Nickleby
Henry McGrath	...	Child Nicholas Nickleby
Hugh Mitchell	...	Boy Nicholas Nickleby
Poppy Rogers	...	Child Kate Nickleby
Jessie Lou Roberts	...	Young Kate Nickleby
Charlie Hunnam	...	Nicholas Nickleby
Romola Garai	...	Kate Nickleby
Tom Courtenay	...	Newman Noggs
Christopher Plummer	...	Ralph Nickleby
Anne Hathaway	...	Madeline Bray
Jim Broadbent	...	Mr. Wackford Squeers
Angela Curran	...	Parent
Jamie Bell	...	Smike
Juliet Stevenson	...	Mrs. Squeers

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic material involving some violent action and a childbirth scene.

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:LH | USA:PG (certificate #39321) | Ireland:PG | France:U | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:6 | New Zealand:PG | Singapore:PG | UK:PG | Italy:T | Argentina:Atp | Chile:14 | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Churchill College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK

Company:

Hart-Sharp Entertainment

Trivia:

French visa # 111470.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Madeline Bray can be seen clearly with pierced earring holes. Pierced ears were not of regular use until more than a decade later. At the time, only rich women pierced their ears.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Vincent Crummles: What happens when the light first pierces the dark dampness in which we have waited? We are slapped and cut loose. If we are lucky, someone is there to catch us and persuade us that we are safe. But are we safe? What happens if, too early, we lose a parent? That party on whom we rely for only everything? Why, we are cut loose again and we wonder, even dread whose hands will catch us now? There once lived a man named Nicholas Nickleby...

Movie Connections:

Featured in 'Nicholas Nickleby': The Cast on the Cast (2003) (V)

England is lovingly represented in this film by a cinematography wedded to landscape.

If Dickens were with us today, he would delight in the stock shenanigans of Michael Milken and the outrageous dysfunction of the Osbourne family. 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. The eponymous hero, played by Brit TV star Charlie Hunnam, travels both worlds to defend the honor of his sister, overcome the tyranny of his uncle (Plummer), and find love. Along the way Broadbent's boarding-school proprietor, reflecting the workhouse slavery of 19th century England, helps his uncle sabotage Nickleby's spirit and endanger his best friend. But Nicholas also meets the delightful Cheeryble brothers, one of whom is Mike Leigh regular Timothy Spall in an uncharacteristically cheery role.

England is lovingly represented in this film by a cinematography wedded to landscape like a Constable painting, gentlemen appearing as stately as in a Reynolds, and women appearing to be sitting for Gainesboro. 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. Reliance on both will bring happiness. My only question is how did the Golden Globes ever nominate this as a comedy?