David Copperfield

Having seen other adaptations besides reading the book, I kept watching this travesty in hopes that it would get better, but it didn't. Americans need to keep their accents and not "fake" an English one. Networks need to remember that there is too much competition to become sloppy in adaptations or becoming too creative with the "Classics". This drives away viewers who spend their dollars on advertisers' products and what credibility does it give them for future productions. David Copperfield was totally lost in this production and never grew, never matured. Dora was delicate and somewhat spoiled in past productions, not this simpering, whiny, pathetic creature that you wanted to slap into life. Agnes was a mere shadow of what she has been in the past, just enough backbone to recognize her character. Sally Field was disappointing as she tried to fake an English accent as Aunt Betsey Trotwood. Her past works have shown she is capable of an award winning performance, but not this time. Anthony Andrews' character of the mean stepfather became cartoon-ish as we saw his character reappearing in the story. His part was written as if the screenwriter wanted to give the stepfather his comeuppance. Don't waste the time to even schedule the VCR if you missed it, because there wasn't anything to miss.

And you can hardly expect a yank to effectively portray a character so intrinsically British as Betsey Trotwood (Bridget Jones was not the norm)... Sally Field's accent was thus naff, and the acting poor, reminiscent of Hepburn as Doolittle.

But sorry I thought that Eileen Atkins was superb as ever, as Miss Murdstone, and Hugh Dancy .... not only is he stunningly beautiful but he played the part of David the elder, magnificently.

David Copperfield, the book, is a relatively large tome, and TV movies do not allow for all minute points to be covered.

I liked it anyway. For what its worth LOL

I wished Hugh Dancy had done the BBC's version of David Copperfield....he is the perfect David

the BBC version is the most faithful to the book however I feel they miscasted older David...Hugh Dancy is perfect

the hallmark David Copperfield is not as faithfull to the book in my opinion...Sally Field as Aunt Besty is not all too great...Dame Maggie Smith was better...if Hugh Dancy had been in the BBC version it would have been perfect

My first thought was, why another adaptation? The BBC version was pure poetry in motion. Why ruin it's memory with this garbage version? It seems that creativity and research are no longer used in the world of film making. The quest for greed; producers with no experience and/or talent, lend their ugly hand in remake after remake of stories that have been told over and over again. Come on Film World, let's be more original and do what film making is supposed to do: ART and CREATIVITY.

to adapt a famous book is always a difficult work, for director and for the reader. for the need to present/discover the heart of story and for not use easy tools.but, in this case, all is OK. the atmosphere, the performance and shadow of Dickens small universe. Hugh Dancy is David and not only his subtle performance is impeccable but the preoccupation to give force and shine to each detail. and this is a great virtue because the film is a little more than an adaptation.honest, rich in nuances, seductive, smart, almost lovely, like many inspired translation of great books spirit, it is a precise puzzle.a fragile ball of emotions and memories, interesting trip in a middle of a way to discover literature, it is that decent option to respect novel and remember its extraordinary profound message.