Nicholas Nickleby (BLU-RAY)

Nicholas Nickleby is writer-director Douglas McGrath's beautifully crafted film adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel starring Charlie Hunnam as the titular Nicholas. While shortened from the original inspirational tome, McGrath's film is no less a powerful and moving endeavor. Nicholas, a young man setting out to provide for his mother and sister following the death of his father, will experience all that the world has to offer. Along the way he'll grapple with villains (including a lip-smacking, malevolent turn by Christopher Plummer as his uncle), build friendships, and ultimately find love. The film, which captures both the starkly dramatic and often humorous tone of the novel with deft assurance, offers superb performances from an ensemble cast that includes Anne Hathaway, Nathan Lane, Alan Cumming, Tom Courtenay, Jamie Bell, Jim Broadbent, Juliet Stevenson, Timothy Spall, Romola Garai and Barry Humphries. Adding to the film's many joys is a bittersweet musical score courtesy of Rachel Portman.