If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This was a fairly enjoyable adaptation of Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes. In the beginning there were a few minor details that strayed from the novel, which didn't bother me too much, as they made little difference to the plot overall. However, as the film progressed there were more little things, and a couple of big things that differed from the plot that bothered me.The only big change that did not overly bother me, that I in fact quite liked, was Mr Simpson being a widower, and his slow burn relationship with Sylvia (Garnie). It added something to the storyline, which I feel was probably a helpful addition in the transition from novel to film.The casting was quite good (although Nanna did not age much...). I found Emma Watson looked exactly as I'd imagined Pauline, when reading Ballet Shoes as a child. Her performance was good, better than others make it out to be. Lucy Boynton was appropriately precocious as Posy. I rather enjoyed Emilia Fox's portrayal of Garnie/Sylvia. The other cast were all pleasing enough in their roles. The film on the whole is family friendly, and if you're not very familiar with the book, it should be quite enjoyable.

It is obvious that this film was made for a younger audience, and as such it is a perfectly good film with a good story and interesting characters that were well acted. Although not being in the targeted age group I enjoyed the film very much too, and it reminded me of the sort of children's drama I enjoyed as a child, it has an innocence and charm which unfortunately could be lost on a modern audience. It was good to see Emma Watson in a film other than the Potter films and I feel it is certain that her career as an actress will give her great success for decades to come. I always find that Emilia Fox gives a credible performance and with the inclusion of Richard Griffiths ,Marc Warren, Lucy Coho and Victoria Wood I would recommend this film to all.

Having loved the book growing up, I was bound to see this. I had bought the 1975 BBC version and found it to be absolutely terrible, as it completely mishandled the adaptation. What is surprising is that the 1975 version ran longer and could be argued as being more faithful to the book. Having said that, this version of Ballet Shoes captures the spirit of the story much better. I loved Emilia Fox's Sylvia and the entire cast did very well. I had been a little apprehensive of Emma Watson as Pauline since I'd never seen her as anything but Hermione from the Harry Potter series, but I was pretty happy with the performance after all. I won't recap the story here, but basically; I love the book, and the movie brought out the reasons why I loved it, so that's good enough for me. I hope you all enjoy it too.

It is a rare treat to view a film like "Ballet Shoes." It's one of the those films where everyone has a piece of the cake of a happy ending but more importantly the film steers away from fluffy clichés and mushiness. The story takes place during the 1930s in a small house in London. Sylvia Brown (the luminous Emilia Fox), the niece of eccentric, traveling paleotolongist Great Uncle Matthew aka "Gum" who brings along from his travels three orphaned baby girls and it is Sylvia and her plucky Nana (Victoria Wood) that raise the three girls who grow up into fine young ladies with dreams and aspirations. The eldest is Pauline (Emma Watson aka "Hermoine Granger") dreams and aspires to be an actress, Petrova (Yasmin Paige) is the tomboyish one of the three and wants to become an aviator, and finally, Posy, the youngest and boldest one of the three has ambitions to become a ballet dancer. But this small family are facing harsh financial times and set their house for room and board. Enter the tenants that impact the girls' and Sylvia's lives: Mr. Simpson (the expressive Marc Warren), a man with a tragic past but a keen interest in cars and airplanes. He is someone Petrova can talk to; The retired scholarly professors Drs. Jakes and Smith (Gemma Jones and Harriet Walter) who take on the task of tutoring the girls; Theo Dane (Lucy Cohu), a professional dancer and actress, who makes the most profound influences on Pauline and Posy. The film tells how the girls struggle with Sylvia to save their home and at the same time pursue their dreams. To add to their struggles, Sylvia is ill and the girls do all they can to provide for her as well. The words I have to describe this little gem are charming and smart. With a wonderful cast delivering equally endearing performances. Emilia Watson is as always lovely and sweet as Sylvia a woman who selflessly gives and gives without ever once asking for repayment with Victoria Wood as Nana providing as a strong front for her and the household. The girls are wonderful: Emma Watson as Pauline is wonderful. She proved me wrong that she really can act and she definitely is more than the Harry Potter franchise. This is a performance that will hopefully carry her even further. Yasmin Paige as the big hearted and adventurous Petrova is a star in the making. Every scene she conveys such honesty and most of all she is real. Lucy Boynton as Posy is very lovely. She brings her character to life as the bold and daring young lady with such grace and maturity. Her scenes with Eileen Atkins, who plays Madame Fidolia a Russian dance instructor and head of a prestigious dance school, are wonderfully done and acted together. The film is sweet, smart, wonderfully acted and written without the added fluff and mumbo jumbo of made for TV films. The only tragedy was that this film wasn't released in the U.S.A theatrically or at least on HBO. This is a little gem I hope to own on DVD.