Admirable film.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Delightfully small and warm, Marvellous tells the story of one of the greatest human beings living today, Neil Baldwin. Neil is kind man, a registered clown, a devout follower of the Church of England, a Stoke City enthusiast and a frequent visitor at the local university he does not study at. Neil goes through life like we all ought to go through life, always trying to relativize events positively. This incredible made for TV movie (a fact that can only be seen in the budgetary constraints, not in the quality, there it rises above most big budget blockbusters), feels a lot like the French film Amélie. That film too was overtly positive, believed in the inherent goodness of people and had me crying tears of joy at some points. Marvellous is not easy to find, but please try, it is well worth the extra effort. Don't do it because I said so, do it to experience the joy that is Neil Baldwin.

There's always a clown/retard in every public organisation; as this movie (based on a true story) reminds us. As a Movie, it's rather well done and entertaining, however, that it's actually based on a real persons life events, is concern for worry (at least for me), and simply highlights how readily society is prepared to go for one person who just happens to be at the right place-at the right time. Tokenism in the extreme, is another valid headline, for society's willingness to showcase it's Christian attitude, (contrast that with the way refugees from war-torn middle east countries are greeted and treated when they land on the shores of their Christian neighbours). So if you can watch this without the underlying reality that i't actually a true story, you should enjoy it, but it will really grate your humanitarian bones once you realise it's actually true.

As others have said the title of this film sums it up perfectly. Neil or Nello is a little different, but manages through his own innocence, love of life and the fear switch turn firmly to off to have a more interesting life than most of us. The film does not gloss over his difficulties or the fact that he is not always treated kindly. It does however show that he expects things to work out and for others to be as nice as he is. Mostly his faith in human nature is justified. The relationship with his mother is so touching. She wants to protect and look after him but her advancing age makes her realise that the only way she can do this is to make him more independent. He struggles with everyday tasks much more than he does with the less than ordinary places which make up his daily life, Keele University, Stoke City FC and even the House of Commons. This film made me laugh and cry. I was a student at Keele in the 1980s, I knew Nello quite well. Seeing him appear as his older self in the film was great. This story is true, if anything it slightly underplays just how marvellous Nello is.

Marvellous is such a small movie in scope and ambition that it shouldn't really register. It was made for UK TV and not overly hyped, yet it turns out to be a career defining work for an actor that has already had all manner of praise heaped on him for his role in Infamous and his many franchise movie roles (Potter, Hunger Games and The Muppets.). Like his contemporary Michael Sheen (Cloughie in The Damned United and David Frost in Frost/Nixon) he is adept at playing performances that impersonate the stars (Truman Capote in Infamous). Only this time the star is not really anyone outside of Stoke has ever heard of.He plays, Neil (Nello) Baldwin, a small guy with learning difficulties who has no fear of the conventions of life because the fear button in his brain is switched off. The result is an outrageous journey of hope over fear, joy over sadness and opportunity over failure.A clown. Stoke City's kit manager. University of Keele doer. Crazy jobs each and all. And all brought to life by this amazing man's unique personality.Three times I wept. It's a joyous movie but has deeply sad moments and is an absolute must see.