The film begins with plenty of quips and old fashioned British humour. Slightly reminded me of The Grand Budapest Hotel in its manner and humour. This film does not deserve anything near what some of the reviews are giving. Clearly many turned up expecting it to be a raucous, laugh out loud comedy which was never promised. What it does do is stick to Dickensian values and humour throughout.
My main gripe is that the balance of the film seems a little off. The beginning and middle parts cross over nicely, however there is a good 30 minutes of rather dull dialogue without the stories moving along very much. The ending then all comes at once, whilst entertaining it compromises the storytelling values from the beginning of the film, perhaps to cram it into the two hour window.
Overall I predominantly enjoyed the script and the performances from the small ensemble of fine actors who were clearly enjoying their whacky roles.
