ESIO TROT
Movie based on the eponymous children's book by Roald Dahl

We watched this the other night. It was utterly charming.

The lead characters are played by screen legends Dustin Hoffman and Judi Dench. The story deals with two elderly neighbors, Mr. Hoppy (Hoffman) and Mrs. Silver (Dench) who fall in love but are unaware of the mutual feelings and don't have the courage to declare their love for each other. Instead, Mrs. Silver gets herself a tortoise to lavish all her love and affection on, while Mr. Hoppy devises a plan to make the tortoise appear to grow bigger rapidly to impress Mrs. Silver in the hopes that she will reciprocate his feelings for her. Part of the plan is a so-called ancient magic spell, which uses English words in its formula back-to-front (for example, esio trot = tortoise).

It is a children's story, so the plot is not realistic, but it is sweet and has a happy ending. In true Roald Dahl style, the character of an adult, Mr. Pringle, is portrayed as a complete and insufferable idiot. It's not only the viewer who thinks Mr. Pringle is an idiot - Mrs. Silver also thinks that way, though it is only revealed toward the end of the story, but in very colorful language and imagery.

The story is not the kind that children appreciate at one level, and adults on another because of all kinds of subtleties and deep meanings cleverly tucked away - it is altogether a story for children, told by someone who deeply understood their minds and could fully enter their worlds.