. . .it was a good watch anyway. Chris Sarandon was outstanding in the roles he played of look-alikes Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. He captured Carton's sardonic humor well, and evoked his melancholic fatalism and innate dignity with much pathos. A quite elderly Kenneth More put on a great performance as the officious but kindly banker, whose character provided much humorous dialogue. The character of Miss Pross, the sharp-eyed chaperone, was absolutely wonderful.

I never expect a movie to follow a novel very closely -- books and films are two completely different art forms and cannot be translated one to the other with good effect. As the movie begins we see the words "Based on the novel by Charles Dickens." With those words we are given fair warning that what is to follow is an interpretation of Dickens' vision.

What this film did was capture what is so wonderful about Dickens' novels -- the alternation between the humor and the darkness at the center of much human experience. The scenes were knit together flawlessly, so that a rather complicated plot taking part in two different places came together without confusion or awkward transitions. The pacing was artfully done, and the last 40 minutes or so were very suspenseful.

It's too bad the movie received so many bad reviews because it didn't follow the book. I've read the book and found it, like many of Dickens' works, to be wonderful, but also probably inaccessible to many readers. This film takes a good story and opens it up to those who may never open the book.

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36 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This movie..., May 24, 2001

By A Customer

As a high school English teacher, I would like to advise students NOT to view this film unless they have read and understand the book. It is not only a poorly made film, I am sure that Dickens must be rolling over in his grave at the rape that has been committted upon his classic story. Not only are important details missing, but characters identities have been changed, as well as their names! In addition, this portrayal does not depict character's personalities as I believe Dickens intended. Finally, this book is lacking, in that, it does not evoke any emotional response from the reader -- unless you count boredom. Take my advice. ...

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved It, June 14, 2004

By	Mitzie Carvel (Olympia, WA) - See all my reviews

This is my favorite version of A Tale of Two Cities. I do not agree with the review that said it was "flat". I have seen other versions and think Chris Sarandon did an outstanding job. Dickens would be proud

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Faithful Reproduction
This version of Tale of Two Cities is very faithful to the original Dickens novel. All Thumbs up!

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3.0 out of 5 stars Average Adaptation
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