Roald Dahl's Esio Trot (2015)
Mr. Hoppy is a shy old man who lives alone in an apartment building. For many years, he has been secretly in love with Mrs. Silver, a woman who lives below him. Mr. Hoppy frequently leans over his balcony and exchanges polite conversation with Mrs. Silver, but he is too shy to disclose how he feels. Mr. Hoppy longs to express his feelings to Mrs. Silver, but he can never bring his lips to form the words. Mrs. Silver has a small pet tortoise, Alfie, whom she loves very much. One morning, Mrs. Silver mentions to Mr. Hoppy that even though she has had Alfie for many years, her pet has only grown a tiny bit and has gained only 3 ounces in weight. She confesses that she wishes she knew of some way to make her little Alfie grown into a larger, more dignified tortoise. Mr. Hoppy suddenly thinks of a way to give Mrs. Silver her wish and win her affection.
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Excellent, Without a doubt!!
A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
I always thought that Roald Dahl's stories were creepy, but this story is the most horrific of all: suggesting that animals are things that can be exchanged without consequences is just disgusting. This is not charming, this is exactly what is wrong with the human race and why animals have to suffer from them. A "hero" who does this, does not deserve to succeed and therefore this story does not work for me at all.
There is definitely an age difference between the principle actors, but I think the age difference wasn't too distracting, because, once you get past a certain age, it seems old age is just old age. I take exception to another reviewer stating his opinion as though it were gospel, that Dustin Hoffman didn't want to make this movie. That is utterly ridiculous. If he hadn't wanted to make it, I'm sure he wouldn't have. Why would he? I think he did a great job, just what the script called for, and I find it highly insulting for anyone to claim that his performance was less than excellent. It seems a little slow at times, but don't give up on it. I felt it was definitely worth it to stay until the end. It left me feeling that my time watching it was not wasted, and I felt a peaceful kind of happy.
A charming story from one of our great authors of both child and adult fiction.The story of one mans infatuation with his neighbour and the lengths he will go to to win her love.With the always excellent Dustin Hoffman and Judi dench. Even the sometimes annoying James cordon puts in a stellar performance as the on screen narrator.An enjoyable feel good movie that wanes a little,retains all the character of a Dahl novel or short story. This film will enchant you and frustrate you feeling melancholic. Suitable for all ages,a must for all Dahl fans and fans of the actors.
There is no doubt that Roald Dahl is a true genius, nevertheless there have been cases where movies have not lived up to their original works. There is no doubt that Judi Drench and Dustin Hoffman are huge names and absolutely amazing (to say the least) actors, however there have been plenty of movies with superb actors and great names which turned out less so. This is NOT one of those. The BBC did a great job to put a marvellous story into this magnificent movie, for the young and the old alike.Dustin Hoffman does such a sublime job playing Mr. Hoppy that I find it hard to imagine him as anybody else. Quiet, shy, kind Mr. Hoppy made his way into my heart from his first minute (more like seconds actually) on the screen. Judi Drench appears as the love interest of Mr. Hoppy, Mrs. Silver, whom despite not being the brightest bulb in the box was a lovely character. All in all both have given wonderful performances.The writers were, in my opinion, the ones who managed to bring real magic to the movie. Looking for more detail, they turned out to be Richard Curtis, Paul Mayhew-Archer, 'old' names to the admirers of comedy from the BBC. Their tasteful humour is no news to me and they managed to put their light, yet deep, touch to this script. They have managed to insert some of the loveliest jokes, and produced a masterpiece that would bring tears to people's eyes for ages. There is not enough praise I could ever possibly bring to this movie and for it to be enough. I could go on for ages, praise every joke and every scene.