 | Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Action & Adventure |
Billie Piper stars as Sally Lockhart in this adaptation of award-winning author Philip Pullman's (His Dark Materials trilogy) The Ruby In The Smoke. (That gave me pause - Pullman's reputation as an atheist is a bit off-putting.)
In this story, aired as a Sunday night feature on ABC-TV tonight, an orphaned teenager seeks the truth about her father's death in the dark and dangerous world of Victorian London.
If you nodded off and woke up after the opening credits, you might think you were in an episode of Charles Dickens' "Bleak House" that you'd somehow missed. The evocation of 19th century London is very well done and the cast fit into their parts well. Julie Walters in particular is so submerged in her role it's almost impossible to recognize her.
Some plot elements seem a little implausible - the freedom enjoyed by young women and black people doesn't ring quite true.
What's a bit startling is the fact this is based on a novel for children. There are several fatal stabbings, drug use, brutal beatings and the implied threat of under-age sex. Children's books have obviously changed since I was a boy. 
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