Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
James Corden | ... | Narrator | |
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Salo Gardner | ... | Mr. Mavrokoukoudopolous |
Dustin Hoffman | ... | Mr. Hoppy | |
Richard Cordery | ... | Mr. Pringle | |
Judi Dench | ... | Mrs. Silver | |
Polly Kemp | ... | Woman on Bus | |
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Emily Ralph | ... | Little Girl |
Geoffrey McGivern | ... | Pet Shop Owner (as Geoff McGivern) | |
Jimmy Akingbola | ... | Keen Pet Shop Keeper | |
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Joseph West | ... | Philip |
Katie Lyons | ... | Philip's Mother | |
Pik Sen Lim | ... | Mrs. Wu (as Pik-Sen Lim) | |
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Ronnie Hughes | ... | Trumpeter |
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Jack Honeyborne | ... | Pianist (as Jack Honeybourne) |
Lisa Hammond | ... | Mrs. Desmond |
Lonely, aging bachelor Mr. Hoppy (Dustin Hoffman) lives in a London flat and has two loves in his life - his balcony garden and Mrs. Silver (Dame Judi Dench), the widow in the flat below. Sadly, Mrs. Silver is too fond of her tortoise Alfie to respond. Noting that Mrs. Silver is perturbed that Alfie never seems to grow, Mr. Hoppy hatches a plan to show her how much he cares. This involves buying dozens of tortoises of increasing sizes to gradually substitute for Alfie, leading Mrs. Silver to believe that a Bedouin chant - Esio Trot - is making her pet grow. However, he is rumbled when one of the tortoises escapes. And, with another, brash resident vying for Mrs. Silver's affections, will Mr. Hoppy find happiness with the woman he loves? Written by don @ minifie-1
While the whole plot could seem rather weak, this movie is a perfect example of a modern storytelling done with mastery. The pace of the movie is voluntarily slow, the actors are excellent, the breaking of the fourth wall is used with wit by a character who at first seems to be there only to tell us the story, and there are some surprising events that are typical of an action movie.