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
Nicholas Nickleby (2002 film) admirable modesty is better than that. Rather than trying to update, transform or otherwise interpret "Nickleby", he has decided to share his enthusiasm for it ... [He] has adapted [Dickens' dialogue] with a scholar's ear and a showman's flair ... [and] produced a colorful, affecting collage of Dickensian moods and motifs, a movie that elicits an overwhelming desire to plunge into 900 pages of 19th-century prose." Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" said, "The movie is jolly and exciting and brimming with life, and wonderfully well-acted." In the "San Francisco Chronicle", Mick LaSalle observed, "It took Dickens 65 chapters, and