This is a great adaptation of a great novel. One of Dickens' great strengths were his characters, which the film realises and portrays brilliantly. The casting choices were great and the performance of each actor was superb and really brought the story to life. I can't name a single actor that didn't do a great job. Even the more minor characters, such as Uriah Heap's mother, were acted very well. The story is told well and gave me similar emotions to the book. As far as adaptations go, it is very good. It develops the relationships between the characters brilliantly throughout the film and thanks to the fantastic performances of the actors, we are transported to Victorian England and experience one of the greatest stories ever told.The film followed the book very closely during David's childhood and almost throughout the film, and is a credit to the great novel. I would give the novel itself a 10, but I cannot give this film the full 10. One of the reasons I did not give this film the full marks is the choice of scenes not to include from the book. For example, in the book more of Steerforth's acts from school are told and you develop a real liking to the character, before he takes Ham's beloved Emily and becomes a villain. The film for me doesn't show the character in the same light as the novel and I personally didn't feel a great liking for the character in the film. There are other omissions from the book, such as the brief return of Murdstone, that should have been included also for this film to get 10. There are a few other omissions from the book that I thought would have made the film a little better. I understand the film is already 3 hours long but when you are doing adaptations from books, I don't think the length of the film should be an issue. It should be as long as it needs to be to accurately represent the book. Overall though it is a great film and I would recommend anybody to watch it. It is an almost perfect adaptation and up there with the greats such as To Kill a Mockingbird. I would recommend reading David Copperfield before you see the film however, as it is a truly great novel.

I've read most of the book, and find the book to be both very faithful and not faithful at all simultaneously. Some extravagant parts (which Dickens wrote to thicken and enrich the plot) have been cut out to shorten the film (hey, it's over three hours already). All in all, a great movie to watch regardless, fairly clean (by today's standards) and great family entertainment. The fact that his life constantly goes up and down, very rarely staying in a straight line, also adds to a great movie. I think the director was great at capturing the time period and protocols of the times, and did this without straying from the main story line.

1. Charles Dickens is still depressing2. Bob Hoskins was less annoying than expected3. tiny!Daniel is the cutest thing ever invented4. I have a crush on the little red headed girl who lives in the boat5. I want to live in a boat6. That older kid at the school was pretty cute too7. Mrs Copperfield and Peggaty are so Frodo and SamIt's actually pretty good, I enjoyed it quite a lot and as I'd avoided reading the book on account of it being by Charles Dickens I didn't really know what was going to happen.Unfortunately grown up David was terribly unappealing. I think when Daniel Radcliffe grows up they should digitally insert him into the second part so he can play grown up David too. Steerforth was much better looking. Dora was so terribly wet I was most thankful as to her fate (shame the dog didn't share it), Emily was much better than Dora.

This adaptation by far beats all the David Copperfield movies.Daniel Radcliffe as David Copperfield is wonderful! He is so angelic as David.The Acting by all the adults in this film was wonderful! Agnes, Peggoty, Aunt Betsy were all portrayed well! At least, they were all better than the 2000 Tv version of David Copperfield.Uriah Heep is wonderful!!!!!Very creepy! Dora is perfect too!watch this! I recommend it!10/10