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1,000+ Ratings
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Solid BBC with typically great perfs from the leads. The story is almost too symmetrically improbably fairytale'ish. But it's still a nice didactic ride on which to suspend some disbelief. Recommended. | ~ Norm de Guerre
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/18/23
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Audience Member
Daniel Deronda is a period drama, an elegant production that one may enjoy shamelessly. The female lead is a great character, well-played by beautiful actress in exquisite costuming. The overall atmosphere is well-done, serious without overreaching.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/15/23
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Audience Member
Beautiful yet Powerful
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/19/23
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Audience Member
Definitely suffers from what I call the Victorian two-novel problem, in the vein of Dickens's Little Dorrit, Gaskell's North and South, and Eliot's own Middlemarch. Those crazy Victorians, not content with single long-winded social epics and their ambition to smash two long-winded social epics into a single novel-- and as is typical one just seems so much more interesting to us and the filmmakers than the other. I appreciate Eliot trying to explore the lives of British Jews in the Victorian era -- it's certainly hasn't been an overly-trod topic, but its treatment ultimately seems a little condescending... particularly in how it entangles via love triangle with the other half of the novel, a disasterous marriage tale. It is this second plot that gets the truly delicious moments, with a surprising frankness about the ails of women and high-society hyprocrisy than I'm quite used to. However, the split nature of the story ultimately fails in going as far and unflinchingly into the abyss as Gwendolen's conflict requires, and it's resolution leaves with slight superficiality. (And let's face it, Gwendolen is awesome and is going to be just fine taking care of herself with or without Daniel and his damsel-in-distress complex.)
Anyway, intriguing enough to make me curious about the novel (though I have read Middlemarch and am not quite masochistic enough to pursue Eliot's grandiose sentences quite yet). Romola Garai is quite fun as the high-spirited and calculating Gwendolen who falls in the clutches of the cruel misogynist Grandcourt (played with equal relish by Hugh Bonneville). Barbara Hershey and Greta Schacchi are also fantastic in a small parts. Hugh Dancy is fine as Daniel Deronda, considering how little his character makes sense, as is Jodhi May, though she is playing one of the those boring/generic virtuous Victorian women (whether Jewish or not).
Tom Hooper (as director) and Andrew Davies (as screenwriter) do keep the action hopping along, and put a real stamp of adaptation upon the piece, which you well know is not always the case with literary miniseries. Without seeming like a sumptuous production, it deploys its budget well--the first and last episodes are particular lovely to look at, and makes me convinced that the 1870s are much more photogenic than any other decade of the 19th century.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/20/23
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Audience Member
This movie is one of my favorites for this time period genre. It has a great story line, and a good moral to the movie as well. Love it!!
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/19/23
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Audience Member
This is a little slow, but overall a great watch. The actors were great and the ending was perfect.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/13/23
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John Leonard
New York Magazine/Vulture
... the same production team that did such a wonderful job on Middlemarch is equally adept here, although the heavy-breathing plot threatens every twenty minutes or so to make us smile in spite of our high-mindedness.
Jan 30, 2018
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A.A. Gill
Sunday Times (UK)
It was nearly an hour before the real quality of Daniel Deronda became clear, but it was worth the wait.
Oct 11, 2018
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