It's no easy task compressing Charles Dickens' 800-odd page novel into a two hour film and the fact that Douglas McGrath almost succeeds says much for his powers of summarisation and the talented cast. A niggling problem remains with the bland, deeply listless performance from the star, which is at odds with everything else in this deeply enjoyable movie.
After his father dies, 19-year-old Nicholas Nickleby (Hunnam) is left as the head of his family. Turning to his Uncle Ralph (Plummer) for support, Nicholas takes the family to London. However, his uncle has no-one's interests above his own and sends Nicholas off to a hideous boarding school, run by the vicious Mr and Mrs Squeers (Broadbent and Stevenson). In this hellhole Nicholas soon befriends a downtrodden peasant boy called Smike (Bell) and resolves to escape. Back in London, his mother and sister are having problems of their own, especially when it comes to Ralph.
With his blond tousled mane and Keanu-like range of expression, Charlie Hunnam is a fairly ineffectual leading man, mistakenly assuming puppy dog faces count as impassioned character development. On the otherhand, the supporting cast - including a splendid Nathan Lane as theatre darling Crummles, a sardonic Tom Courtenay as Ralph's right-hand man and Jim Broadbent as Squeers - are utterly wonderful. McGrath may have to skim over some episodes which should and could have been better developed but Nicholas Nickleby is definitely worth a closer look.
