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Daniel Deronda | 
 enlarge | Director: Tom Hooper (ii)
Actors: Hugh Dancy, Romola Garai, Hugh Bonneville, Jodhi May, Edward Fox
Studio: BBC Warner
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $8.98
You Save: $6.00 (40%)
New (22) Used (6) from $8.98
Rating:  65 reviews
Sales Rank: 5643
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 210
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: E2885
UPC: 794051288523
EAN: 0794051288523
ASIN: B000M2E32M
Theatrical Release Date: 2002
Release Date: April 17, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
George Eliot's accomplished but underrated last novel is effectively, often stirringly, adapted for this 2002 BBC production, which was scripted by old pro Andrew Davies (Middlemarch) and directed with wit and subtlety by Tom Hooper (Cold Feet). Set in the 1870s, Eliot's story concerns two strong-willed young people whose self-determination is under attack by legal constraints on their rights to an inheritance. The noble Daniel (Hugh Dancy) is of dubious birth; the fiery Gwendolen (Romola Garai) can't possess her late father's estate because she's a woman. They are sympathetic to one another, but not lovers: Gwendolen is obliged to marry into wealth and becomes an unhappy bride of the scoundrel Grandcourt (Hugh Bonneville), while Daniel must sort out his feelings about the much-maligned "Jewess," the beautiful Mirah. Despite Garai's somewhat questionable casting, this lengthy drama--evenly divided between the two leads--never lags in insight or passion. --Tom Keogh
Product Description
Daniel Deronda is a sensitive intelligent young man the illegitimate son of an aristocrat haunted by the secrets that shroud his birth. Beautiful vivacious Gwendolen Harleth is a gambler and short on cash. When they meet at the roulette table sparks fly. But Gwendolen needs money more than passion and the self-centered aristocrat Henleigh Grandcourt is happy to provide. As her situation becomes more and more oppressive she turns to Daniel for help only to discover his involvement with the young Jewish singer Mirah Lapidoth.Torn between his devotion to Gwendolen and his passion for Mirah and the plight of her people Daniel is forced to look at his own mysterious past and find out who he really is...and who he wants to be.Running Time: 210 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 794051288523 Manufacturer No: E2885
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| Customer Reviews: Read 60 more reviews...
 HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE December 5, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The main character couldn't act and the script was so poor that I never really figured out what the plot was until the end. Gwendolyn was egotistical and selfish and then later- pathetic and needy. Daniel just wandered around lost the whole time. Mirah was a weak character...
This seemed to be a movie (at the end, anyway) about how terrible English society was when compared to the unfortunate Jews. It tries to be interesting and complex, but it fails miserably. At the end, I felt like I've been shammed into watching something that is just a thinly veiled attempt at convincing the viewer of the greatness and importance of Jews and their quest for a homeland. I don't care about any of that. If it had been about any other race/religion taking pride in themselves, while showing how crappy other people were, I still would have been annoyed. The problem with this movie is that at one extreme, you have gwen and the rest of the English and at the other extreme you have these zealots who are made to look like .. I don't know- perfect??? I am sure this review will make some people angry, so you can enlighten me on all the injustice that Jews have been subject to, but I just thought the movie could have found some middle ground. People are pretty much the same everywhere you go and there are some good, some bad. This flim was too black and white. It gets one star for excellent costumes and scenery. (And yes, I did notice the few TOKEN attempts at pretending to be fair.. The way the German-Jewish magician married the English girl and the fact that Mirahs dad sucked... Those were tokens, though).
 Plot was getting somewhere - but final chapter lets down October 29, 2008
I personally was let down when watching the 4 part installment of this movie.
Don't get me wrong - the acting is wonderful, the costume amazing, and the storyline had promise........ but it seems as if it just ended kind of cheezy and abruptly.
My Complaints:
*I didn't care for the amount of time spent in Duronda searching/delving/debating his Jewish past....it became dragged out and almost too religous.
*I like Jodhi May - but her expressions when she is upset are unattractively distracting (kind of a snarl flared nostril thing)
*Barbara Hershey portraying a Spanish Contessa who is English/Jewish (??) that's when I threw in the hat..... she was terribly chosen for that part and it just seemed from there on out, the film was in a hurry to climax and end.
Of course a happy/unhappy-for-some ending was a pleasant difference, but I can't say that I was a fan of how Mrs. Grandcourt became a widow either...kind of cheesy.
In redemption, I loved the marriage that went awry for Gwendolyn and Grandcourt - the abuse was belieavable and Grandcourt really is dastardly. Duronda's true romance was also endearing with Jodhi May's character.
Overall the film was good - it just had me hoping it would end better/ more developed in several aspects.
Daniel Deronda July 22, 2008
This is a great movie. Hugh Dancy does a great job.
I got the product a week or so after it was ordered and it's in excellent condition.
 Some Viewers apparently didn't get it July 21, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
To judge by the majority of Amazon reviews, Daniel Deronda was seriously appreciated much more than not, which is certainly as it should be. On the ImdB, however, there are some opinions, mostly about the ultimate developments of the story, which I find disturbing. I will give nothing of the plot away, except to say that the DVD ends the way the book ends, and why is this so unacceptable?
Phil Gramm got in trouble for calling the U.S. a nation of whiners. Since I have no position to lose, political or otherwise, I am deciding not to learn from Phil's gaffe and am now giving my take, which is, actually, we are a nation of ILLITERATE whiners.
George Eliot developed her story for a reason, and I am just gullible enough to think that Eliot knew well what she was doing.
I am wondering if the people who complain about the outcome of Daniel Deronda are the same people who travel to Europe and instead of absorbing what European culture has to offer they complain about the drinks not having any ice.
A final unrelated opinion: Jodhi May (who plays Mirah) has a wonderful, understated quality in everything I've seen her in. She's an outstanding performer, and my guess is she's a quite interesting and pleasant individual in real life.
Yes, this is more a soapbox than an actual review, but since I'm the 62nd person to write I'm sure there are enough traditional reviews available here.
 Not worth the time it takes to get through it July 9, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Okay, I am glad that so many people enjoyed this film, but having never read the book, I had a very hard time getting through it. Let me start off by saying that I love period dramas, but this film was terrible. I didn't like ANY of the characters, and the supposed lovers of the film barely speak to each other. No one in this film is happy, and for the most part, they don't deserve to be. There is lots of whining and complaining about why life has to be so difficult and unfair, but I just want them to get over it!
There is a large part of the film devoted to discovery of true identities, but that still feels wholly unresolved by the end, because knowing who one's parents are doesn't mean they'll know who they are themselves. It doesn't change anything for the better.
Now I will say the costumes are beautiful and there are some amazing landscape shots, but I cannot under any circumstance recommend this movie to anyone.
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