I loved this movie right from the get go. It's a fun, funny, sweet story about life and love and all those interesting bumps in between. You can relate to the characters on some level because I am sure everyone knows someone like either of the leads. It's subtle humor works well with the plot and it just makes you feel that life is worth the living. Very good life lessons as well; we are never too old to learn and grow.I have watched this movie 3 times now and it never fails to satisfy.I most definitely recommend this movie for the whole family. Two well known and well loved actors play the lead roles and they are flawless in their performances.. An all around pleasure to watch.

Roald Dahl's 'Esio Trot' is a simple but charming tale about a shy, middle aged man called Mr Hoppy who harbours a crush on his downstairs neighbour, the kind-hearted and glamorous Mrs Silver. When Mrs Silver casually mentions that she wishes her beloved tortoise Alfie would grow a bit faster/larger, Mr Hoppy devises a cunning plan to try to win the woman of his dreams…The difficulty with adapting 'Esio Trot' into a full length feature is that the story is very short and must be 'fleshed out' in order to fill 90 minutes or more. Hence, this adaptation introduces new characters that were not in the original book, including the narrator and his family (the book has no narrator as such), the eccentric pet shop owner (Mr Hoppy does visit a number of pet shops in the book but the owners are not described), and various bit parts that have been added such as Mrs Silver's friends at the dance marathon. Most notably there is the addition of the obnoxious Mr Pringle, the next door neighbour and Mr Hoppy's rival for Mrs Silver's affections; in the original story, Mr Hoppy has no rival other than Alfie but the addition of one does increase the dramatic tension. And with additional characters come additional scenes, some of which do help explain what the book does not cover e.g. how Mr Hoppy can afford to buy all the tortoises, or expands upon what the book only touches on such as Mrs Silver's feelings for Mr Hoppy (in the book she does indicate after Mr Hoppy's proposal that she's always felt the same way about him but this is confirmed in the film when it is revealed that Mrs Silver has been actively trying to attract Mr Hoppy all along).Finally, purists of the book may disagree with the filmmakers decision to change the ending. In the book, Mrs Silver - who accepts Mr Hoppy's proposal straight away - never finds out about the switch and continues to believe for the rest of her life that the larger tortoise is Alfie, while the original Alfie was returned to the pet shop where he was bought by a family (and double in size after many years). In the film version, Mrs Silver discovers the switch (and gets Alfie back) and does not immediately accept Mr Hoppy's proposal. Moreover, Mr Hoppy is led to believe that Mrs Silver has begun a relationship with Mr Pringle. But perhaps the filmmakers felt that it was too dishonest for Mr Hoppy to forge a relationship with Mrs Silver after having lied to her and – effectively – stolen her tortoise! But personally it didn't really bother me and meant that the story could have a more dramatic ending with Mrs Silver finally realising the lengths that Mr Hoppy would go to for her.All in all, an enjoyable adaptation, beautifully acted by Dustin Hoffman and Judi Dench and while mainly aimed at children, there is still plenty for adults to enjoy.

The thing about reviews are that they are merely one persons opinion, the opinion of the person giving the review. This is why so many 'professional' reviewers find that once they give their opinion and if it is a bad review suddenly the movie reviewer finds it is braking box office records, like Frozen, I wonder what they feel.In the case of esio trot I have noted that it appears to be either loved or hated reviewers which reminds me of the old adage.'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder' and in my case esio trot was beautiful.Now on to my review.What an absolutely delightful little tale, even more greatly enhanced by the superb actors, Judi Dench and Dustin Hoffman.Roald Dahl truly surpassed himself with his story Esio trot.SPOILER BEGINS This is a love story about two ageing people Mrs Silver (Judi Dench) and Mr Hoppy (Dustin Hoffman) Mr Hoppy fell in love with Mrs Silver from the first moment he set eyes on her but he was so shy and did not know how he could win her heart.They live in an apartment building where Mr Hoppy can see and speak to Mrs Silver from the balcony above hers.Mrs Silver buys a tortoise (esiotrot) for company who she called Alfie but becomes depressed because Alfie is not growing.Mr Hoppy comes up with a cunning plan which he hopes will win the heart of Mrs Silver. He buys 100 tortoises of varying sizes which he manages to swap over periodically over time with the original Alfie. Each time he swaps one he swaps it with one slightly bigger.Mrs Silver is delighted with the speedy growth of 'her' Alfie and of course does not realise that the tortoises are being changed by Mr Hoppy.Eventually Mr Hoppy asks Mrs Silver to Marry him which does not go as he hoped.I will leave it there and urge you to watch this superb and gentle story to discover how it ends.SPOILER ENDS Judi and Dustin were absolutely superb, as were the supporting actors. The script was also second to none as was the direction.I have no hesitation in giving Esio Trot a 10 rating.

This absolute wonderful story of love between two 'older' people will have you spellbound from start to finish. Dustin Hoffman nails perfectly the shy, retiring Mr Hoppy who until his neighbour moves in has only one love his Babylonian balcony garden. Whilst Mrs Silver played by Judi Dench, becomes the new object of his affections the day she moves in to the flat below his, is ideally cast. Mr. Hoppy although he is to shy to tell her how he feels gets the chance to make her dreams come true when he learns she wishes her pet tortoise Alfie, would grow from his very small 13 ounces. To do this he comes up with an ingenious and very daring but funny plan. However their is a complication in the form the very boorish Mr. Pringle who lives in the flat next to Mr. Hoppy he also has his eye on Mrs Silver.If you enjoyed your romances gentle but bitter-sweet with a happy end you will love this. The entire story of their budding romance is humorously narrated by James Corden the man with the first floor flat.