Charles Dickens' novels are just too big for your standard movie. There are too many characters, there is too much going on, there are too many paths of interconnectivity and coincidence to tread ... So most moviemakers tackling Dickens do what David O. Selznick did -- cut that puppy until it fits in a nice, neat movie-style package.
Now we get the story of two French families in pre-revolutionary France and England. Lucy Mannette was raised in England after her father was imprisoned in France. She meets and marries Charles Darnay, who is really the nephew of a French aristocrat.
Darnay gets captured and put on trial for spying, but is rescued by the brilliant, drunken lawyer Sidney Carton, who's madly in love with Lucy and the best damn character in the movie and the book.
Years later the revolution is in full swing and its a very dangerous place to be for anyone with any ties to the aristocracy. Of course, this is the *perfect* time for Darnay to head back to his old stomping grounds, dragging the entire cast of the film with him. Seriously -- you know its dangerous. You know they'll try their damnest to kill you and everyone associated with you? Why bring the kids and a cast of thousands along??
Ronald Coleman is absolutely wonderful as Carton, who sacrifices himself to save this bunch of doofuses because he loves them, even if they are stupid. Character actress Edna May Oliver brings strength and sass to a thankless role as Lucy's governess. And my eye kept drifting to Madame Defarges' funky knitting.
One of the better film adaptations of Dickens work, but read the novel anyway.
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