collegedude3 I saw this movie about a year ago and watched it just recently. I have to admit the only reason I decided to even watch this was because of the lovely and just beautiful Emma Watson. What can I say I am a guy. Why else would I watch this?I had seen Emilia Fox before and Victoria Wood. Overall it had a good ensemble and decent acting. This was Emma Watson's first role outside of Harry Potter as far as I know. Although her character is portrayed as a bit selfish and cocky in the beginning of the movie, we get to see a girl who becomes sweeter and begins to care about others at the end. Her character Pauline is actually very insecure and Watson does some good work crying in the movie and showing all the appropriate emotions that are called for. My favorite part of hers is when she snaps at Victoria Wood for leaving her wrap in the wings, then she breaks down and sobs as she is running a tub while talking to Petrova.The little redhead Posey is a brat and plays a brat, and Petrova is more or less a sweetheart who seems kind. The wardrobe and the recreation of the time period of the 1930s is all well done and has a nice feel to it.I have to say that the ending kind of came suddenly with kind of a real lack of emotion. I was hoping for something more touching and less anti-climatic.It is a nice story for young children, especially girls. And that the movie teaches that with hard work, caring about family and putting them first, and believing in yourself that dreams can in fact come true. The DVD has special features with about a twenty minute or so interview with Emma Watson herself talking about why she took on the project, and what it was like working with the other actors, and her insight on the movie which I found delightful. The interview reveals she is not only beautiful, but is a very well spoken intelligent sweet young lady. I hope to see much more of her in independent, interesting roles in the years to come. 8 stars out of 10 for ballet shoes. Bravo!

TxMike I was able to see this on Netflix streaming movies. I was interested mainly because Emma Watson is in it, right in the middle of the many Harry Potter movies. I was curious to see how she acted in a quite different role, and she did very well.It is set in 1930s London and the costumes, makeup, and cinematography give it an authentic 1930s feel. A nice gentleman who seems only to explore the world inherits a young niece whose parents drown, and as she grows to young adulthood gradually 3 more girls are added. She becomes the legal guardian of them and sees to it that they grow up polite and successful. The younger girls are given the last name of Fossil.Emilia Fox is the guardian, Sylvia Brown. Emma Watson is Pauline Fossil. She is the oldest of the 3 younger orphans and develops with an interest and a flair for acting.Yasmin Paige is the next as Petrova Fossil. She is the left-brain one, more interested in science and particularly aviation. And the youngest, who was my favorite actress here, is red-head Lucy Boynton as Posy Fossil. The only thing she brought with her as a baby were ballet shoes, and with that apparently in her blood becomes obsessed with being a world-famous ballerina.Fine British character actor Richard Griffiths is the Great Uncle Matthew, affectionately called 'GUM'.This is a very nice, pleasant PG movie. It shows the bonding within a family unit when none of them are actually related to each other. It also shows how children can become 'bratty' when they get the big head of success. In the end everyone seems on a very happy track in life.SPOILERS: Sylvia is having a difficult time keeping up with the expenses of Gum's house, and no one has heard from him in 12 years. So she has him declared dead and sells the house. Soon after that he shows up, at the same time that Pauline is offered a movie contract that requires her to move to Hollywood. She is hesitant but does it so that she can help Posy afford to travel to a school for ballet. It turns out Gum had become friends with a famous female pilot who taught him to fly in Argentina, and he teaches Petrova. And to top it all off the nice male boarder marries Sylvia and they head to Hollywood to be with Pauline.

Aura V Yes, I wanted to watch this movie because of Emma Watson. She is a few month older than I am and I've liked Harry Potter since the first movie came out. Well... Now I'm 17 and I'm not really interested in Harry Potter anymore, but I'll still watch the other movies after they come out.I've never red "Ballet Shoes" nor heard of Noel Streatfeild. I am not from the UK so don't judge me for that. After watching this movie, I'm going to see if I can find this novel, the movie was really interesting.At first, I thought Emma is horrible and she has so little screen time and I expected so much more... but after the first 20 minutes, I was thrilled with the story and I completely forgot I was watching it for Emma's performance. I almost forgot it was Emma at all. She did a good job acting, she really got out of Hermione, considering this is her first role apart from Harry Potter. I am sure she will be even better in the future, if she will be playing different characters.The rest of the cast was good, also, I really liked Emilia Fox and I've never seen anything with her before. The director did a really good job and the costumes were wonderful. The feelings the movie sent me were also powerful, I've never shed a tear during a movie in years....

robert-temple-1 Noel Streatfeild's book 'Ballet Shoes' was read by nearly every English girl who is now a woman over fifty. It was filmed in 1975 and here it is again. If you don't mind the fact that the plot will not stand a close examination (one character disappears for twelve years without explanation, before returning, but no one finds that odd), and if you are willing to watch a film for its fairtytale qualities and sparkle, then you will find this most enjoyable and well done. Most viewers will be female, either women delightfully reminiscing, or young girls still innocent enough to dream (if there are any left who are not already binge-drinking and having sex at the age of ten). Heidi Thomas's script doesn't even try to make sense of the implausible plot, but just gets on with the fun. The film has been very well directed by Sandra Goldbacher, now we hope rescued from the world of television advertising. The story concerns three orphan girls living in a big house whose owner is absent. They are played with tremendous youthful energy and verve by Emma Watson, Yasmin Paige, and Lucy Boynton. They are 'running out of money' and cannot afford dresses, despite the fact that they live in a huge mansion (see page 94), but let's not worry about that inconsistency. One wants to act, one wants to be a ballet dancer, and one wants to be an airplane pilot. Well, why not? They struggle and have vicissitudes, as one must do to succeed, and manage to earn enough money to keep the bailiffs from the door. They are looked after by Emilia Fox, who coughs and becomes increasingly frail and wan but never quite gets the TB that is hinted at, and she falls in love, and is broken-hearted and desolate, but ... well, I ain't sayin' what happens there. Comedienne Victoria Wood is a kind of super-nanny to all, showing her warm heart straight off the AGA, Richard Griffiths is as jolly as ever when he is around, and that is very jolly indeed. Everybody has a great time, and so do we.