Turtle Diary Reviews

An intelligent, witty, offbeat, and somewhat eccentric comedy based on the novel by Russell Hoban. Neaera Duncan (Glenda Jackson) is a writer-artist who specializes in children's books. But she has come to a creative crossroads and is wondering if she has what it takes to go on. Shy Neaera lives comfortably by herself in a roomy London flat, and her only pal in the building is her enigmatic next-door neighbor Johnson (Richard Johnson). William Snow (Ben Kingsley) is a clerk in a bookshop who lives in a teeming boardinghouse populated by odd characters. William isn't happy at the job or at the rooming house, but he is doing his best to cope. Neaera and William come together at the local aquarium where both are fond of the huge turtles that swim endlessly from one end of the tank to the other. And both speculate about what would happen if these giant turtles were released into the sea. A simple tale well told. No murders, no rapes, no teenage dancing, no hardware--just good talk and lovely characters. This is a totally engaging movie, even if you don't care a whit about turtles.