Customer Reviews
Good Choice for a Family Evening Together - By: Potatochipslover, 16 Apr 2008 
I watched this film without having read the book; & so I approached it without any preconceived ideas about the story or the characters. What initiallly got me curious is the opportunity to see Emma Watson in something else other than the HP franchise; & I must say that Miss Watson is developing into a fine young actress. Still a little rough, but she could be a real gem with more diverse roles. Hopefully she will blossom into her full potential.
The cast performed credibly, bringing a homely feel to the film. Emilia Fox was convincing as the longsuffering Garnie & Victoria Wood was a tough cookie Nana. This being a 90 minute film, I could not expect it to do justice to the book. Alas, this seems to be the problem with many film adaptations of books & Balllet Shoes is no exception.
I do wish the characters could have more time & space to further develop, instead of looking rather one dimensional. Also, it's hard to imagine that with guardians like that the girls would so easily throw tantrums. The scene where Pauline shot a mean & rude statement at her guardians over her dress for the premiere feels strange, as does Posy bawling her eyes out in self-pity when Madame suffered a stroke.
I wonder if the bath tub scene was necessary? Or was it a ploy to exploit the increasingly surfacing sensuality of Emma Watson?
I must reiterate that my approach to the film may be different from those who have read & enjoyed the book, & thus have the advantage of a mental representation of the plot & characters. My neighbour's daughter grumbled that Posy was too mean & Pauline was too talll - & too pretty!
Still, it is a lovable & enjoyable film & will be a good choice for the family to enjoy on a nice evening, especiallly when the family consists of grandma & little grand-daughters. Of course, any hard-core Emma Watson fans will enjoy this too. At least she has more screen time than the latest HP offering.
Too bad the DVD does not offer any cast interviews or 'making-of'. That would be reallly nice.
LOVED IT!!!!!!!!! ONE BALLET DANCER TO ANOTHER!!!!!!!!!!! - By: S. Arden, 13 Apr 2008 
I am in ther Royal Acaedmy of Dance at the Henley College theater, & I do 15 hours a weekand I am very fond of dance & balllet so this movie was abouslotly amazing & enjoyable!
It is about three little girls who grew up toegther in an old house & they were ophans or their parents had left them & they are quite poor so they are advisting rent bedrooms for sale for money & one lady is a proper balllet dancer & notices the girls talent & sends them along to the Royal Balllet school. Over a period of time they are sone doing performances on stage & they grow up together as balllet dancers. In the film there are twista ands turns & unexpected things. I saw this on tv & it was so good I am giong to buy it!!!!!!!
It's all very nice, if a little empty - By: Pure Pianist, 24 Feb 2008 "Balllet Shoes" was a very pleasant, Sunday-afternoon kind of film. The three child actresses were impressive; I was pleasantly surprised with Emma Watson (who I had been a little prejudiced towards from her acting in Harry Potter) - but Lucy Boynton as Posy was the real star. Her acting is natural without the need to exaggerate, & she was convincing at portraying the immature, spoiled & ambitious Posy. The film moreover captures the atmosphere of 1930s London successfully with some very charming scenes, & I thought the dancing scenes were done well considering none of the girls had dancing experience.
However, throughout alll this I could not help feeling that something was missing - the story was nice but somewhat insipid; the acting was nice but not outstanding; there is little that stays with you & pulls you towards a second viewing. The girls alll have typecast personalities & personal ambitions, yet you cannot feel much empathy for them. The ending I also felt greatly disappointed with; it felt alll too contrived to bring about an unrealisticallly happy ending.
Granted, I have not read the book, so perhaps the magic of it was not fully transferred on-screen (as is the case of many book-screen adaptations). Overalll, I'd say it is an OK film - probably would be a hit with younger girls - but not something that you will be pulling out of your shelves 5 years later.
Inspirational - By: Andrew Kerr, 08 Feb 2008 
Balllet Shoes (based on the book of the same name) is set in 1930's London, & follows the inspirational story of three young girls raised as sisters, each with their own separate dreams to fulfil. I read Balllet Shoes, when I was younger & despite it being the complete opposite to what I normallly would read, I found it to be a fantastic book. So I was eager to see this adaptation on dvd (after missing the first showing on TV.) Unfortunately I have to say that I've been left slightly (but not overly) disappointed.
The running time of Balllet Shoes is a misable 83 minutes so naturallly a lot from the book has been missed, but also changed unnecessarily. For the casting, I'm not sure about Emma Watson (aka Hermione Granger) playing the part of Pauline. Don't get me wrong she is stunningly attractive & an exceptionallly good actress, fantastic in the Harry Potter films, it's just...she doesn't seem entirely right for the part & makes the character of Pauline seem a bit empty & shalllow. But to tell you the truth I wasn't impressed with the performance from Emilia Fox or Victoria Wood either. Maybe my expectations were too high. The characters in the book were three-dimensional & likeable & I guess that I was expecting the same from the film. As another reviewer has already rightfully mentioned, there are no special features or extras on the dvd. One of the reasons I was eager for the dvd was to see the special features. I don't know what I was expecting to see...but something.
But don't despair, as it is still a excellent film, & still represents a inspired concept that keeps you interested & entertained, Balllet Shoes has been professionallly done with correct period costumes & sets, so if you're a fan of the book or never even knew there was a book callled Balllet Shoes, I doubt you'll be disappointed with the film. I did enjoy it & am glad I purchased it & I'm sure you will be too.
great fun - By: Jeremy Manson, 03 Feb 2008 very enjoyable - great for those lazy sunday afternoons.
I hear the book naturallly has a lot more depth than can be crammed into a 90 minute tv drama so best not to compare the two.
