Tom Brown's Schooldays [2004] [DVD] [2005]

Absolutelt FANTASTIC! Great for all of the family! I was on the edge of my seat to see what was going to happen next. There were points in it were I cried, points where I laughed it was an emothional rollercoster that I wanted to never stop! This is a MUST SEE for the whole family starring the great Steven Fry and the adorable 14 year old Alex Pettyfer. You guys just have to see this film!

After missing the beginnig of Tom Browns school days (2005) on ITV on New years day I have just recieved the DVD from Amazon.This is a well made drama and a great formula of using old hand actors and first timers,firstly Stephen Fry was just great as the headmaster trying to change Rugby school from its old ways,he was very convincing,the young actors who played Brown,Tadpole and East were just amazing,Firstly Alex Pettyfer(14) as Tom Brown was excellent as he had some tough scenes to do with Stephen Fry,I expect we will be seeing more of Alex in the future,a good looking lad with great acting talent.Dane Carter(Tadpole) and Harry Michell(East) also deserve a mention as they were fantastic in support.The story did stray from the book but who cares the story here was very well played out with a limited amount of time and money,only 2 mil to make and compare that to some of the multi million dollar garbage that has been produced this is by far more watchable and enjoyable,well done to all involved and lets have more of the same from ITV.

Perhaps this was doomed to mediocrity from my point of view, because I have read and loved the novel on which this was based.

It falls at many hurdles, not the least of which are: the horrible machete-job done to the plot; the distortion of key characters; the PC'isation done, presumably, to not offend anyone (seemingly a capital offence these days); and some woeful acting from the supporting cast, in particular, the actor who plays East - who to me, seems about as capable of delivering his lines convincingly as a six year old in a Nativity play. He also seems to be younger than Tom, which is totally at odds with the book.

1/ Tom is now something of a boorish oaf, who borders on open rebellion against the Doctor Arnold's new ways, which is a departure from the book. Tom was always a good lad in the book, if somewhat prone to being rather inconsiderate and laddish, to use a modern term.

2/ Why in the name of Thomas Hughes's grave-bound spinning remains, does George Arthur die? It didn't happen in the book and it doesn't serve any purpose other than to make all the female viewers go "aaahhhhhh" at Tom's tears.
The manner in which he dies also means Flashman has effectively committed manslaughter, which in my view is totally inappropriate.
To have his funeral as the last scene in the film ends the entire thing on a massive downer and is something for which the chief writer deserves to be sent to the Tower for (the Tower of London, not the Birching Tower at Rugby, or to give it the ridiculous name this film does, the "Caning Tower").

3/ Some seriously flaccid script writing. Tom says things sometimes that, if included at all, would be the viewpoint of a 40 year old Old Rugbeian, not a 13 year old boy.

4/ The book covers Tom's career as a Rugbeian from twelve or thirteen years old, right up until he's nearly nineteen and leaving. Like other adaptations before this, the story of this film seems to cover only one or two terms at the school before ending. Of all the actors who've played Tom Brown, Alex Pettyfer is probably one who could have been depicted as being several different ages in the same film.
John Howard-Davies looked (and sounded) like an androgynous six year old chorister and nothing anyone could have done would have made him look or sound any different, Pettyfer was a different matter, even if his voice had already broken.

But in true defiance of Jeremy Clarkson's opinion of amateur reviewers, I have given this three stars, not one. So what are the redeeming features?

1/ Stephen Fry. Seriously, this man could be in a documentary about buttons, cow-pats or teaspoons and make it interesting and redeemable. There are a few scenes with him that are complete inventions, but he conveys that which Robert Newton (the actor who played Arnold in the only other adaptation of TBS that I've ever seen) conspicuously lacked: humour, warmth and sincere affection.
H was apparently completely had by one of the actors (I think the one who played Hall) during filming, after he accidentally hit him across the hand with a cane for real when filming one scene. The next day he asked him if he was alright and the lad said, "Well, they took me to casualty and the doctor said it's only a cracked bone, so yeah, I'll be fine."
A mortified Fry was thinking, "Oh my God, what have I done?!" when he saw the grin starting to surface and realised the "little git" had been playing him along.

2/ Alex Pettyfer does a pretty reasonable job of being Tom Brown. Any complaints I have with the character are with the awful lines he's been given, and the way he's painted by the writers.

If you like Olde Englande stories and haven't read the book, you'll probably like it. If, like me, you know and love the novel, you probably won't.