84 Charing Cross Road

Starring:Anne Bancroft, Anthony Hopkins, Judi Dench
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

Helene Hanff (Anne Bancroft) and Frank Doel (Anthony Hopkins) are lifelong friends who never meet in this unique comedy-drama based on a true story. Hanff and Doel are separated by 3,000 miles of ocean and joined by a passion for old books. Their relationship begins when New Yorker Hanff orders a copy ("unabridged, please!") of Pepys's diary. Doel, as polite and soft-spoken as Hanff is loud and overbearing, fields the request from his book shop in London. For the next two decades they correspond without ever actually sitting down for tea and crumpets. Brit director David Jones (Betrayal) does a reasonably good job of goosing a movie about something as uncinematic as letter writing, and the stars have fun chewing scenery on both sides of the Atlantic. The model for this kind of bittersweet relationship is David Lean's Brief Encounter, which, not coincidentally, is glimpsed here when Hanff steps out for a rainy-day matinee. --Glenn Lovell

Customer Reviews:

84 Charing Cross Road.......2007-04-03

The DVD arrived in a timely manner. I haven't watched it yet, but I am sure it is fine as it came new in box with the wrap in place.

book lover.......2007-03-24

This movie is not for everyone. It has no helicopter blowing up anything. Nobody is mad at anyone and seeking revenge. It is a gentle story about a pleasant relationship that develops between a book lover and a book seller. I loved this story. The acting is supurb. Walter

Beautifully Portrayed Story Of The Love Shared By Two Very Opposite People.......2007-03-14

This beautifully understated story about a loving correspondance between two very different people on different continents over a twenty year period could quite possibly not appeal to alot of people in today's audiences so used as they now are to action packed whiz-bang films with little attention paid to detail and characterisation. However this film has always touched me for its simple depiction of the old adage that "opposites do indeed attract". I've admired actress Anne Bancroft since her days in films such as "The Miracle Worker", and of course "The Graduate", however in "84 Charing Cross Road", she is simply unforgettable as the brash New York writer who while seeking out rare volumns of books from a London Secondhand Bookstore unexpectedly begins an amazing correspondence with a softly spoken and very proper English Bookseller that spans over twenty years. This touching story sees the two very different individuals develop an increasing more intimate exchange of letters that end up changing their lives forever. For any movie goer who appreciates fine writing and wonderful understated character development this very unobtrusive little story is bound to touch your heart in so many ways. Long before he became the horrific Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs", Anthony Hopkins I feel gave one of his most quietly rich performances here and despite never meeting his leading lady on screen once in the course of the film, he has a wonderful mismatched chemistry with the very different Anne Bancroft that somehow works and which helps make their relationship so incredibly touching and real.

surprisingly compelling.......2007-03-14

For a film with very little plot, no climax, and minimal character development, I found 84 Charing Cross Road to be surprisingly compelling. I found myself often wondering why I was so interested in how the film would develop, given the absense of what usually are important elements to good film making.

The acting was quite good, especially Hopkins.

A small gem.......2007-02-24

This delightful tale of a 20 year correspondence between a New York writer and a London bookseller made me smile a lot. There is more to it than that, but that's the net result. The movie is better than the book, but by all means read the book first, it's a fast read. The book is the actual correspondence on which the movie is based. Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins are perfectly cast, as is everyone else.

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