Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

SnoopyStyle It's 1890s Victorian England. Nancy Astley (Rachael Stirling) works at the family seaside restaurant as an oyster girl. She falls completely upon seeing vaudeville actress Kitty Butler (Keeley Hawes) who dresses as a man on stage. She leaves her boyfriend Freddy (Benedict Cumberbatch) to be with Kitty. The sisterhood turns into a lesbian affair as Nan joins Kitty on stage. Later, Nan catches Kitty in bed with manager Walter Bliss who then get married. Nan starts dressing as a man and working the streets. She's taken with the innocent Florence (Jodhi May). Wealthy widower Diana Lethaby (Anna Chancellor) takes her off the streets to be her lover. Nan gets tired of the life and gets into a fight with Lethaby protecting the maid Zena Blake (Sally Hawkins). Nan gets thrown out onto the streets. She finds a colder Florence with a baby living with her brother Ralph Banner (Hugh Bonneville).The first part sets it up as a lesbian love story. It doesn't follow through on that front. It turns into a melodrama of the Victorian London's lesbian scene. In fact, Kitty gets sidelined for the other two parts. The first part led me down one path and then I got thrown a bit going down the other path. This unusual world is fascinating. Rachael Stirling is quite compelling going from innocent ingénue to rundown weariness. This is an interesting TV mini-series.

TheLittleSongbird The book is a must read, just as much this adaptation of it being a must see. The mini-series is remarkably true to the book, even with some changes and trimmings like Florence being not as forthright as in the book and the Kitty's crisis after she's heckled during a performance being (somewhat unwisely) skipped, but they don't hinder things at all. Tipping the Velvet(2002) stands fabulously on its own and has so much to recommend, you don't even need to read the book to love this mini-series. The production values are both beautiful and vivid, the costumes, hair and make-up positively take you back to the 1980s, the parlours are opulent, the seaside nostalgic and it is in the music hall moments where the mini-series is most vivid. The photography is just as lush with occasional moments of overblown editing. The music has a haunting undercurrent as well as understated beauty and swelling richness, anyone familiar with music hall music will be delighted at the selection chosen. The script is compact and concise, all the essentials are there and even with the trimmings have their full impact. You are really taken to the Victorian London world, with the contradictions(some quirky, some not), views and beliefs and social class differences. The sex scenes are explicit but also splendidly sensual, and the mini-series shows a lot of depth to characterisation with no signs of cliché or misogyny(considering what Tipping the Velvet is about there was a danger of that). You certainly do fully believe the relationships and chemistry between the characters(like with Nan and Kitty rehearsing together), and the gender politics explored here and in the book are truthful and subtle. The story is funny, poignant and thrilling in equal measure(particularly the final episode), all three episodes beautifully paced, slightly slow start but picks up very quickly. Rachael Stirling gives a stunningly powerful performance, that covers all sensualities and nuanced emotions of Nan's character and Keeley Hawes has never been more intoxicating than here. Anna Chancellor is imperiously scary while Jodhi May approaches Florence with real grace without falling into too-good-to-be-true category. In conclusion, fabulous and not one to ignore or forget. 9/10 Bethany Cox

OzSekhmet As a lesbian, I am sick and tired of being portrayed in movies and on TV as a sad person, forever vacillating between suicide and homicide, but never destined to find happiness? If, like me, you are fed up with Hollywood's anti-lesbian propaganda, you'll breathe a sigh of relief at this delightful offering from the BBC. Nan Astley is the daughter of an Oyster-house restaurateur who "wonders why she can't feel the way she should about Freddy" (one of the local lads who has his eye set on her). She falls – and falls hard – for Kitty Butler, a male impersonator with a visiting theatre troupe. Nan accompanies Kitty to London as her dresser… Not everything that happens to Nan is pleasant in this story, and some of the things she does are not squeaky-clean either - but she will win your heart, and her story of love triumphant will leave you with a beautiful lump in your throat at the end.If you are a lesbo-hating macho man or a homophobic housewife, or some brand of religious fundamentalist who believes that homosexuals should die and go to hell, this series is not for you. But if you have a heart, and you believe in love, you will cry at the end as much as I did!

Mariannejordan I love this movie. I watched it over and over when i rented it from Netflix.It had a lot of substance and meaning for me. I think many people will enjoy it.I have read and seen quite a few lesbian stories over the years and am happy to say they are getting better and better in how they are presented.They tend to have a more positive feel for the life style and feeling's of gay women.Its nice to see two women find themselves and be as happy as others in this society.I think it is apparent that more and more movies with this theme will grace our theaters and TV screens.Many producers and directors are realizing that Lesbians live very full and wholesome lives and that we have wonderful stories that should and can be seen by individuals as well as families without hesitation.