This is the best film adaptation of Dickens' best novel. You can't go wrong with this one.<br /><br />The production is low budget, but that actually works in its favor. The film has a grittiness that is entirely appropriate.<br /><br />The script is first-rate and the actors are virtuosos across the board. There is not a note in it anywhere that rings false.<br /><br />If you're tired of the sentimentalism and cartoonish characters usually associated with Dickens, you will be pleasantly surprised. There is none of that here. This is a story about real people. There are no saints, except for Rachel and she's a minor character, and no devils. Even the ostensible villain, Bounderby, is humanized.<br /><br />Dickens on film doesn't get better than this.