Our Mutual Friend

Starring:Paul McGann, Keeley Hawes, Steven Mackintosh, Anna Friel, David Morrissey, Peter Vaughan, Pam Ferris, Kenneth Cranham, Timothy Spall, Dominic Mafham, Margaret Tyzack, David Bradley (IV), David Schofield, Paul Bailey (II), Katy Murphy, Doon Mackichan, Anthony Calf, Peter Wight, Heather Tobias, Catriona Yuill
Director: Julian Farino
Studio: BBC Warner
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

One of Charles Dickens' darkest yet also most romantic novels gets a lavish treatment in this BBC mini-series of Our Mutual Friend. The heir to a great fortune made from the garbage business is drowned--and his death affects everyone. His father's manager, Noddy Boffin (Peter Vaughan, Brazil), gets the money, to the alarm of snooty society. The man who pulled the heir's body out of the Thames is accused of his murder; his daughter, Lizzie Hexam (Keeley Hawes, Tipping the Velvet), finds herself pursued by both an idle gentleman (Paul McGann, Withnail & I) and an obsessed, violent schoolteacher (David Morrissey, Basic Instinct 2). The heir's intended bride, Bella Wilfer (Anna Friel, Me Without You, gets socially adopted by the Boffins, where she succumbs to the lure of money above all and spurns the interest of a mysterious stranger (Steven Mackintosh, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels). The plot creeps up and down London society like a tenacious plant, twining around a pair of golddiggers who mistakenly married each other and a heartsick bone merchant named Mr. Venus (Timothy Spall, Secrets & Lies). This excellent adaptation moves with aggressive speed, drawing the viewer into the grimy worlds of the riverside and the dust heaps and the glittering, gossiping parties of the rich. Our Mutual Friend balances one of Dickens' most entrancing love stories with his creepiest gothic turns--it's a rich stew of characters both earnest and vile, made with sumptuous production values and movie-quality cinematography. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Critically acclaimed as Dickens' crowning achievement, this sweeping tale of two turbulent love affairs plays out amidst a tangled web of wealth, corruption, passion and betrayal in 1860s London.

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing.......2007-06-05

I read the novel and adored it. I eagerly watched the adaptation, but I was disappointed to find that it lacked the spirit of the book. There is a lot of wasted time (the dialogue lags, and some scenes simply go on too long), and the performances are uninspired and lack urgency. The movie seems slack. This film is likeable, but all and all I would not recommend it.

Best Dickens' movie I have seen!.......2007-06-02

"Our Mutual Friend" is a rather dark and mysterious story with a wonderful plot, intriguing characters, and uplifting romance! Although the DVD cover gives away some important details, I was still completely surprised by the ending. Anna Friel is amazing as the beautiful Belle and Keeley Hawes is wonderful as the peasant Lizzie Hexam.
I SO enjoy a hystorical period movie with these characteristics and best of all... a happy ending!
For those seeking a movie appropriate for the whole family, let me warn you that one minor character uses God's name inappropriately perhaps four times. There is also quite a bit of death and scary thematic elements. However, there is absolutely NO inappropriate sexual activity. All those involved in the "romance" theme are chaste and wonderful examples for us all.
PLEASE! Watch this movie to the end! The second half is so exciting and the romance starts to play out.
All-in-all, an amazing movie! The characters seem to reach out and draw you into their dilemmas and you are overjoyed when their attitudes/desires change and they become TRULY "rich" individuals.

Meh..........2007-05-25

Okay for what I paid for it (9.99). The acting was good, the sets were good - everything was well done. I just can't get all excited about this movie. I probably won't watch it again.

Riveting.......2007-05-24

I started watching, and kept watching, and watching, and watching.... I loved this movie! I'll 'fess up and say I never read the book, but this was a wonderful viewing experience. Since it's based on Dickens, I was prepared to get somewhat depressed by depictions of poverty and the miserable down-trodden part of society, but this movie doesn't dwell too much on that. The story masterfully weaves together the rich, poor, and in between, with criss-crossing storylines that get all wrapped up together at the end. Wonderful!! I loved Robert Hardy's character especially - I've never seen him in a role like this. Hard to say much more without putting in spoilers, so I'll just say that I cared about what happened to all the characters, found the acting and directing great, and this goes down as one of my favorite movies. Just be prepared to spend several hours with it. I'll definitely be re-watching this every year or so.

our mutual friend.......2007-05-11

It was a terrific movie filled with twists and turns that left you wondering what would happen next. The romantic aspects of the film were excellently done and well porteayed.

The Charles Dickens Collection (Oliver Twist / Martin Chuzzlewit / Bleak House / Hard Times / Great Expectations / Our Mutual Friend)

Average customer rating:

Dickens Package 1
Dickensian Delights
opinion
lovely , region 1 only
Good value

The Charles Dickens Collection (Oliver Twist / Martin Chuzzlewit / Bleak House / Hard Times / Great Expectations / Our Mutual Friend)
Starring: Ben Rodska , Scott Funnell , Eric Porter , Frank Middlemass , and Lysette Anthony
Director: Gareth Davies , Pedr James , and Ross Devenish
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Charles Dickens Collection, Vol. 2 (David Copperfield / The Pickwick Papers / The Old Curiosity Shop / Dombey and Son)
Jane Austen Collection (Sense & Sensibility / Emma / Persuasion / Mansfield Park / Pride & Prejudice / Northanger Abbey)
Middlemarch
The Shaw Collection (Pygmalion / The Millionairess / Arms and the Man / The Devil's Disciple / Mrs. Warren's Profession / Heartbreak House)
Bleak House

ASIN: B0009PVZMS
Release Date: 2005-09-06

Amazon.com

As can be clearly seen from the care lavished on these six BBC adaptions of Charles Dickens' novels, the British love their Dickens! And why not--Dickens is ideally suited to television, with his elaborate but vigorous plots, each a compendium of comically odious personalities (and one or two nice folk, just to keep things from getting too awful). Actors dig into these meaty roles with zeal, delighting in the hairpin turns from macabre horror to sweet sentiment. The more popular (and most frequently adapted) of the books at hand--Great Expectations and Oliver Twist--are the most conventional. The 1981 mini-series Expectations (in which young Pip learns the pitfalls of wealth through his relationship with the rich and bitter Mrs. Havishamand and her warped ward, Estella) is dutiful to its source but not adapted with much inspiration. Twist, from 1985, fares better; it's a zippy treatment of this tale of childhood deprivation and juvenile delinquency, and the horrors of Victorian orphanages will raise your hackles. The adaptation is capable but a little flat--still, any story where an undertaker observes, "Every tear is another shilling in the till," is clearly not lacking in wicked wit.

Fortunately, the others are considerably juicier: Martin Chuzzlewit, a lesser-known but richly satirical book, has a star-studded production from 1994, featuring Paul Scofield, Tom Wilkinson, Pete Postlethwaite, and Julia Sawalha, among others. The wealthy Martin Chuzzlewit, deeply suspicious of all mankind due to being hounded by greedy, grasping relatives, threatens the happiness of his ward Mary and his namesake grandson. In addition to the sterling and energetic cast, Chuzzlewit has outstanding production values, as does the 1998 version of Our Mutual Friend, which goes to great lengths to evoke the textures of life in Dickens' London. The mysterious death of a man about to inherit a great fortune sets in motion a complex plot that intertwines two love stories (it's one of Dickens' most romantic works), social scheming, and murderous obsession. The names aren't quite as famous (such as Paul McGann, Timothy Spall, Anna Friel, and Keeley Hawes), but the performances are top-notch and the script is particularly dynamic.

Bleak House, a Kafka-esque story of young innocents caught in an all-consuming, multi-generational lawsuit, cultivates a rich and potent Gothic horror; the 19th century seems like an unnerving alien world, through which lawyers and policemen stride like cruel predators. Diana Rigg is the most famous face in this 1985 production, but strong performances abound. The final component of this box set is the most curious: A 1994 version of Hard Times starring Alan Bates and Richard E. Grant, which turns this dark story--about a schoolmaster/politician who raises his children on reason at the expense of all feeling and finally reaps the bitter rewards--into a compact, theatrical feature film that's so swift it's almost jaunty. Adapted and directed by Peter Barnes (writer of The Ruling Class), it's the most stylized production of the bunch, and while lacking the depth and narrative detail of the others, it effectively cuts to the essence of Dickens. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Dickens Package 1.......2007-06-27

This collection is an embarassment of riches. Each story is divided into several episodes which take time to view and absorb. So far we have only viewed "Bleak House" and "Our Mutual Friend". Both are excellent and capture the steamy world of Dicken's London. I think I am constantly amazed at the attention to detail that the Brits recreate in historical drama. And of course there is the wealth of character playing for which Britain has always been famous. A really excellent series.

Dickensian Delights.......2007-06-02

This collection is wonderful, you can "watch" these novels over and over, faithful to Dickens in tone, plot and spirit -- Highly recommended.

opinion.......2007-06-02

I've just bought the collection, I've seen 3 movies so far, they're great, faithful to the books I've read. They come with cc(closed caption)so it helps the understanding. I watch a film and read the book. They're perfect for those who are really into literature. I highly recommend them.

lovely , region 1 only .......2007-05-08

The dark stories about the impossible lives of the unfortunate makes it a kind of films that will glue anyone to the chair. BBC serieses are not like any other film, and I simply escape to anothr world every time I watch.
Had to watch it in my computer though, since it was not my region( not even after I changed the region in my "region free" DVD player ) which also means I had no subtitles either. A good computer screen is needed for that purpose.

Good value.......2007-03-28

My husband and I are major fanatics when it comes to literary
pieces brought to film. We have been renting some of these classic BBC films from an online rental business. We finally decided to buy the set. My husband, being a english teacher, loved several of these films. The best two out of the set is Martin Chuzzlewit and Our Mutual Friend. It is a shame that Hard Times did not live up to the book and was only roughly based off of it. We just finished Oliver Twist, not knowing the story at all, we were on the of our seats just waiting to hear the big twist and to see how the plot works itself out. Highly recommended, even with Hard Times being not faithful to the book.

Average customer rating:

Our Mutual Friend [Region 2]
Starring: Paul McGann , Keeley Hawes , Steven Mackintosh , Anna Friel , and David Morrissey
Director: Julian Farino
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( O ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00005KB4G

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Shito Ryu Karate Original

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & the Island of Misfit

Darkman/Darkman 2: The Return of Durant [2 Discs] [1990] (RE

DVD: 21st Century Guitar Method 1 DVD

Die Playboys