84 Charing Cross Road

It is a very pleasant film with a fireplace-kinda-warm feeling, and even though it has flaws, I would love to see it again in a while.

Difficult to grade this fairly since it delivers exactly what it promises: a very well made film about... the polite mail correspondence of 2 average people - often about books & obscure books at that. It's easy to see that the only reason this got made was bc Mel Brooks made it for his wife Bancroft who loved the book. Still Hopkins does quiet despair better than any actor alive (he can have the saddest eyes in the world) & the climax is unexpected & touching. But it can be dull getting there.

I can't say there's anything profound for me to grab onto when I watch it, which is what I tend to desire from pared down human stories. But that can also be considered a credit to the film. Because it speaks to the tastes of a select audience who would be moved by this tale, and because it's thoroughly effective on that level of integrity, it's destined to be a cherished little critic-proof installment in their personal home entertainment collections.

A pleasant but unremarkable small film.

"Sometimes a film sets out not to have you on the edge of your seat, but to have you reclining thoughtfully in it."

Sweetly pleasant version of the well-known book, later a play. Bancroft clearly enjoys the material, though she gives in to her tendency towards hamminess a bit too often. The period set designs are excellent, as are Hopkins, Dench, and Jean De Baer. But it's too one-note nostalgic, with enough twinkly moments that a often felt like I was watching a Spielberg movie.

C. S. Lewis would have felt at ease here after his essay of the four types of love, which all find a gentle expression here. All from a simpler time where the world was a much larger place, and letter writing was a valued vehicle for warmth and affection.

A cozy and pleasant little film, dragged down a bit by some obnoxious fourth-wall-breaking moments, awkward time leaps, and an anticlimactic ending.

Charming story. Anne Bancroft stole the show.

Not as good as the book, but the true story is irresistible, and it's capably adapted. Bancroft and Hopkins both do honor to the people they play.

Helen Hanff and Frank Doel share a love of books and life; she in New York City and he in London. Their \