Plot Summary

Lonely, aging bachelor Mr. Hoppy (Dustin Hoffman) lives in a London flat and has two loves in his life - his balcony garden and Mrs. Silver (Dame Judi Dench), the widow in the flat below. Sadly, Mrs. Silver is too fond of her tortoise Alfie to respond. Noting that Mrs. Silver is perturbed that Alfie never seems to grow, Mr. Hoppy hatches a plan to show her how much he cares. This involves buying dozens of tortoises of increasing sizes to gradually substitute for Alfie, leading Mrs. Silver to believe that a Bedouin chant - Esio Trot - is making her pet grow. However, he is rumbled when one of the tortoises escapes. And, with another, brash resident vying for Mrs. Silver's affections, will Mr. Hoppy find happiness with the woman he loves?