Danny, le champion du monde

A charming movie set in rural England after the war. Widowed Father Jeremy Irons is bringing up his son in a caravan on a small piece of land where he also runs his own garage. Unfortunately this small piece of land is crucial to the plans of the local, much disliked, Nouveau Riche squire played by Robbie Coltrane. A real smarmy cove. He wants their land and will call in all favours to get rid of them. He is also currying up to the local gentry with a pheasant shoot, but what if there were no pheasants for anyone to shoot?. What they need is a champion pheasant catcher..

This is another winner from Roald Dahl the peerless childrens writer. Real-life father and son Jeremy and Samuel Irons play the leads in this with Grandad Cusack as the local doctor. Just a bit of a whimsical romp for the two elder actors whereas young Samuel had to put a noticable effort into it. All the same it is a thoroughly heartwarming story. There are quite a few well known faces in it, Jean Marsh doing a caricature of a spinsterish do gooder, Michael Hordern as a slightly dotty Lord, Jimmy Nail as a disgruntled gamekeeper, and Lionel Jeffries as the tippling but exceedingly fair Headmaster. It's almost as if they thought "What shall we do this summer? I know lets do a movie together." They are all perfectly natural and comfortable. A joy to watch.

Watch it with your children you wont regret it.

This is sterling stuff. A charming film that all the family can watch. Jeremy Irons is really believable as the single father of Danny Smith. Together they hatch a plot to do down wealthy landowner Hazell, played excellently by Robbie Coltrane. It is Jeremy Iron's heartwarming performance that I enjoyed most however, and he works incredibly well with his son Samuel. Their relationship is a joy to watch. I've rarely seen a father and son relationship portrayed so touchingly on screen. Good supporting performances too, from Cyril Cusack and Jimmy Nail among others. I can't think of better actors who could have played the characters in the film. Also lovely music and views of the English countryside. The film is quite evocative of the time it was set in (1955). Great that it's coming out on Region 2 DVD, I think this film deserves more recognition as it definitely captured the spirit of the book.

Charmingly British in a way that most films set in the countryside in the 50s tend to be, what with the costumes and the locations easily reflecting a different time entirely, and the young Samuel Irons is fantastic as the titular character in his first, and only Silver screen appearance. The relationship that is depicted between father and son is a beautiful site to watch, heightened by the fact that they were portrayed by an actual father and son. I can understand how a young cold would find entertainment in this film. The sense of danger and horror jeopardy the characters find themselves in is adequate for a family friendly film.

This is a really decent film and quite true to the book. Robbie Coltrane is a highlight and great as the villain. What i am not overly fond of is the subplot about Danny's strict teacher. It's done as if we're supposed to hate the teacher and be on Danny's side but Danny misbehaves in his class so he had every right to punish him For example Danny is late for school, after being warned previously that he'd be punished for it, so his teacher gives him 1000 lines as punishment. I thought this was a fair punishment but the way its written its like we're supposed to feel bad for Danny. He was late for school the teacher gave him the punishment for it. I didn't see anything wrong with the teacher being strict and punishing Danny for his behaviour.

This movie is listed as TV, yet in Austrlia it was shown in cinemas where I saw it with my family, The movie was true to the Roald Dahl book and was as enjoyable and whimsical, the acting and direction was what was needed for such a classic and I never felt let down or became conscious of the fact that I was watching a movie, but rather was taken away with the story , which is something I long for in movies. I would so enjoy seeing this again, it is in my psyche with such movies as "The railway children" and "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" of which all were British. If your a lover of children's literature and wish to be taken away by a wonderful and endearing movie with values not often contained in entertainment today, this movie is for you.