Nicholas Nickleby (2002 film) The film received positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 77% out of 122 professional critics gave the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6.8/10 and the critical consensus being: "Thanks to a strong cast of experienced actors and director Douglas McGrath's steady hand, "Nicholas Nickleby" is a worthy and respectful adaptation of the Dickens novel." In his review in "The New York Times", A. O. Scott called the film "two hours of swift, engaging entertainment" and added, "The book's theme and spirit have been dutifully respected. No, what Mr. McGrath has done with
Racism in the work of Charles Dickens that while Dickens later in life became far more sensitive to unethical aspects of British colonialism and came to plead mitigation of cruelties to natives, he never lost his distaste for those whose life style he regarded as "primitive". Many scholars have noted the paradox between Dickens' support for various liberal causes and his racism, nationalist chauvinism and imperialist mentality. Biographer Peter Ackroyd in his 1990 biography of Dickens (the 2nd of four books on Dickens) duly notes Dickens' sympathy for the poor, opposition to child labour, campaigns for sanitation reform, and opposition to capital punishment. He also asserts that