Mary Anning & the Dinosaur Hunters

It was a lovely cinematic look at the history of Mary Anning, of which we knew very little about. We took the whole family and everyone enjoyed.

Beautiful B roll mixed in with great story telling and acting.

Lots of unexpected humourous moments had us laughing out loud.

We feel like we had a great insight of what it was like for her growing up and the struggles she faced being a girl/women in a male dominated world.

We saw it in Dorset so combined it with some fossiling of our own and came back a couple of weeks later for another trip. Definitely a great combination, get yourself to Dorset and dig up some fossils and watch the movie.

I read another review about the length of the movie and I've heard on the grapevine that the movie length is being reduced, the original showings were the first directors cut. I think the original length of movie was fine but needs an interval to stretch your legs.

I had high hopes for this film - it being made locally by people who are clearly passionate about Mary Anning's achievements.

As a 90-minute low-budget indie film this might have been bearable. But at two and a half hours it's stretched way too thin.

The film is too slow and the storytelling is weak.

The unintended comedy brings occasional light relief.

However, there are some historical inaccuracies that grate - such as Jane Austen claiming to be a famous author.

What's good about it? The Dorset coast, Jenny Agutter, and work put in by a cast and crew wanting to do justice to the Anning story. But the end result is disappointing.

This is a beautiful film, directed by Sharon Sheehan who is one of the best directors I have worked with. Getting any film made these days is a mammoth task. And the work of talented women directors is always worth supporting. Sheehan wrote a wonderful script as well as directing and playing the title character. She did all three tasks with great applomb. Such stunning cinematography all on film, shot entirely on location in Lyme Regis and along the Jurassic coast of Dorset where the events occurred, is normally only to be found in much higher budget productions. But this is a micro budget Indie film of real integrity and great beauty. It tells the story with much more authenticity than the recent big budget Hollywood film on the same subject. Sheehan has assembled a cast of quality and Jenny Agutter shines with a luminous energy as a force for moral good among the venal snobbery amd self interest of a male dominated field, even now. But back then for a working class autodidact woman to achieve what she did is well worth honouring. Very Good performances from Sheehan herself, Hamilton, Storrier, Oliver, Jackie Howe ( in a wonderful and poignant last performance) Arundel et al. I saw the first public screening and The audience response was very good. The film has a meditative pace which really draws you in with beautiful, lingering shots. Scenes have time to develop. No. There are no car chases. Yes. Shots last longer than a few seconds. No explicit sex or physical violence, or cheap bells and whistles. Just a very moving and intelligent piece of film making which treats the audience as intelligent grown ups. This is well worth seeing for anyone interested in Cinema itself and the inspirational story of an outsider battling against all the odds. A final mention must go to the haunting, minimalist score by Einaudi. To secure the services of such a world famous artist is a major coup for Sheehan and her team. Bravi to all concerned!

This was a lovely story about the life and times in the days when things were so much different then today. The bravery of a young lady was an example to us all who want to make a difference to our lives and to those who watch to story unfold. A lovely film. The story goes from a young girl who has a family to support her and then her father dies and leaves the young girl and her mother in debt. It is tinged with sadness to see how male adults can bully those who are not so well off as they are and do not have the same amount of power. It also shows however that if you want to be a success and be remembered you can be.

This is the story of a woman from a poor background in a world of rich and privileged men. It is dramatic, funny, intriguing and touching. Visually it is beautiful, capturing the charm and strangeness of England's "Jurassic Coast", but the visual splendour is always at the service of the story of someone with a genius for palaeontology, i.e fossil hunting, who struggles for recognition in a world of rich, male dilettantes and academics. Finely acted and boldly conceived. Einaudi's music is a perfect and unobtrusive accompaniment. The story has a tragic dimension, but a sense too of beauty and hope.