Florence Nightingale

One of the worst costume drama's I've seen in years! The acting was terrible. the script was terrible, the screenplay was dull and the characters seem like they had been plucked out of the 21st century and thrown back in time! Laura Fraser was useless, good looking, but useless. She plays the strong modern woman type which is totally out of context for the time, and all the male characters are weak.

The only saving grace for this movie is the filming location of Croxteth Hall in Liverpool, which I used to visit quite frequently as a boy living in Liverpool,UK.

So... bad acting, bad script, and awful characters with poor delivery! anyone who loves true to life accurate historical films will be shocked and disgusted! anyone who has no clue or doesn't care about history, especially English history, may see it in a more entertaining light.

Americans will love it!

To me, this is only half of Florence Nightingale story worthy putting into the art form of movie.

This first half is a great attempt, especially the "spirit" as manifested in the script such as "if you can't find it (the broom), make it (the context: when finally in the battlefield so called hospital, the man's world, when opportunity patiently waited to help out, with her team of female "amateur nurses", as the nursing profession yet to be born, the room they stay was dirty, and needs cleaning by brooms).

The other half of the yet to be made movie should describe the "Rose chart", that today even Excel spreadsheet could create yet, Nightingale made in around 1856. What a real pioneer in data visualisation among many innovations she made. Any brave director and investor to make the second half of the movie?

I found this production very entertaining. It's style was not unlike 'Oh, What A Lovely War', interspersing the real life drama ,with music-hall scenes, brilliantly led by Roy Hudd. Laura Fraser was excellent in the role of Florence Nightingale , showing her as a feisty yet tender character. Michael Pennington ,as Wen Nightingale was also well cast and he played his part with great sympathy. A special mention for a fine newcomer, Zoe Street-Howe, who's performance as the young Queen Victoria, I found most believable. I am sure we will see more of her. The switch from comedy, to very realistic hospital scenes,gave the production a lot more edge and underlined the futility of war.

The script was terrible. It was full of modern colloquialisms (e.g. the nation wants to 'move on') and people calling each other by their first names inappropriately for the period. Laura Fraser acted the part with a modern Sloane Ranger accent and entirely lacked the gravitas that Florence Nightingale clearly had. Her experience of nursing before going out to Scutari was omitted. Michael Pennington was terrible as her father, weak and totally un-Victorian.

The time line of the piece was confusing and the music hall interludes were entertaining but out of place.

The later parts, with Florence agonising over her mistakes, were overdone. It is true she made mistakes, but unless I am much mistaken, she did not agonise over them very much, but rather tended to remain very confident of her abilities and fixed in her opinions.

As a full-time professor of business and personal development, I have rarely had t time to watch films for pleasure. Most films I watch are to select as lessons which will tell the story of famous figures in history (especially those which are outside of my academic purview) who have made a difference. I hope my students learn through identifying specific attributes of the subject of the film which drove them to making a difference in the lives of others. Teaching online at home during the quarantine of 2020, I have gotten a chance to catch up on films I never watched before to learn more about amazing people who lives long ago continue to make a difference event today.

This film on the life of Florence Nightingale has been one of the best films I have watched recently. It stirs both the heart and mind of all those who appreciate the dedication of nurses on the frontline during the pandemic, by learning about their historical "mentor," Florence Nightingale. The film is beautiful to watch. The spirtiual component is not offensive, it actually shows that in every dedicated "nurse" their is indeed a higher calling (vocation) to serve others to the point of the loss of their own life.