Esio Trot
Year: 2015
Running Time: 88 minutes
I had completely forgotten the plot of Esio Trot but I did recall that the title is "tortoise" spelled backwards (spoiler alert). The story is a slight departure from Roald Dahl's other works in that it is a love story and the protagonists are not children who have been dealt a tough hand. Instead, it is a love story between two people in their twilight years, and one that is told with tenderness and a sense of wonder.
The film starts with the narrator (played by James Corden of Carpool Karaoke fame)describing Mr Hoppy as a kind and shy man and "not that guy in the hat", who happens to be a decrepit geriatric that closely resembles one of the tortoises in the film. Instead, Mr Hoppy is the kind gentleman who holding the elevator for the slow old man. Mr Hoppy has two loves, his flowers and a certain retired midwife, Mrs Silver (played by the ever charming and versatile Dame Judi Dench). Mrs Silver is a redhead who enjoys low-cut summer dresses. Mr Hoppy has loved Mrs Silver since their first intimate encounter in the elevator .
Since she lives alone, she decides to acquire a pet tortoise, named Alfie, to keep her company in her floral-clad home. Mr Hoppy knows he has to tell her how he feels about her but he is unable to speak up and express his feelings. In the meantime, Mrs Silver expresses concern that Alfie hasn't grown - this is just the ice-breaker Mr Hoppy has been waiting for. Mrs Silver won't be happy until Alfie grows so Mr Hoppy comes up with an ingenious plan to make her happy. He gives her a "Bedouin tortoise chant" (the words are written backwards becauase tortoises only understand words spoken backwards...as I'm sure you know).
And so Mr Hoppy puts his plan into motion: he purchases tortoises of different sizes and plans to replace them one by one, using a modified fishing rod to lower and extract them from Mrs Silver's balcony below, creating the illusion that Alfie is growing.
There is an amusing "death scene" in which Mr Hoppy accidentally drops one of the Alfies when he is surprised by Mrs Silver's return home. But the tortoise is saved by an Asian lady's vegetables which break his fall. The tortoise manages to make its way back to the correct flat, much to Mrs Silver's relief - and Mr Hoppy's.
Things seem to be going well for Mr Hoppy but Mr Pringle, an annoying, obnoxious neighbour with awful table manners who loves to hear himself talk, makes a move on Mrs Silver, which breaks Mr Hoppy's heart. However, he refuses to give up and makes a final push to win Mrs Silver over. Just when things are looking up, Mr Pringle throws another spanner in the works that jeopardises Mr Hoppy's dream of marrying Mrs Silver.
Will true love prevail? Well, this is a Roald Dahl story after all. Despite the narrator suggesting that not all stories have a happy ending, this is not one of those stories.
It is a touching and at times amusing love story for all ages, but perhaps especially for all the cynics out there. The film has several valuable lessons as well: often, it is the quiet and unassuming people who are the most interesting, you should grab joy when you can, seize the day while you can and most importantly, sometimes you have to take a few risks when love is at stake.
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