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David McK (3880 KP) rated Hornblower: The Even Chance (1998) in Movies

Aug 15, 2021 (Updated Jun 29, 2025)  
Hornblower: The Even Chance (1998)
Hornblower: The Even Chance (1998)
1998 | Adventure
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
First of the TV movie adaptations of CS Forester's famous nautical hero Horatio Hornblower, taking it's main inspiration and plot from the earliest (set, if not released) of those books when Hornblower had just joined the navy.

Ant, therein, I found, lies my biggest problem with the film: Ioan Gruffudd (back before Hollywood came calling - he was Mr Fantastic from the original Fantastic Four movies, remember) is simply too old for the part!

That's not to say that he doesn't give it his all, or even manage to fully inhabit the role: just that, in this one at least, I couldn't get over the fact that Midshipmen were only supposed to be in their very early teens (11, 12, thereabouts), and yet here we have an actor in his mid 20s (at the time of recording) playing a 17 year old - and even 17, to me, seems too old to be a Midshipman during the period portrayed.
  
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ClareR (6256 KP) rated Death at the Sign of the Rook in Books

Nov 23, 2025  
Death at the Sign of the Rook
Death at the Sign of the Rook
Kate Atkinson | 2024 | Contemporary, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I read my first Jackson Brodie in July 2021, and I’ve since worked my way through them all, not wanting any of them to end too quickly. I love this little corner of the literary world.

Death at the Sign of the Rook gives a nod to the Golden Age of Agatha Christie I think, with the murder set in a grand country house that’s fighting for survival, by turning part of it into a country hotel.

There are some very Christie-esque characters: an army major, a vicar, a dowager and of course, the sleuth with his sidekick (in the form of Jackson Brodie and DC Reggie Chase).

There’s art theft, people in disguise, secrets, lies and a truly awful Murder Mystery weekend! And Brodie can’t even get away because of the snowstorm!

This is everything I’d hoped for: funny, clever, fast-paced and immersive. I loved how it all came together at the end.

I can’t wait for the next instalment now!