Cast: Dev Patel, Aneurin Barnard, Peter Capaldi, Morfydd Clark, Daisy May Cooper. Directed by Armando Iannucci.
Dickens is one of those fantastic writers, much like Shakespeare and Jane Austen, who has a back catalogue of work that can be adapted time and time again. While a hailed novel in its own right, ‘David Copperfield’ is not perhaps as well known in pop culture as Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’, ‘Oliver Twist’ or even ‘Great Expectations’, and yet here is a lavish loving adaptation that appears to be skipped over by the awards at large.
The Personal History of David Copperfield adapts the story of Copperfield, born to a widowed mother and sent through the trials and tribulations of life, and the people and actions along the way that shape him as a man.
It’s important to note the importance of co-writer-producer-director Armando Iannucci in the world of British comedy; not only did he help co-create the legendary character Alan Partridge way back when, but has also been at the forefront of one of the UK’s best sitcoms in The Thick of It, managing to adapt this into a gut-bustlingly funny film with In the Loop. Aside from this, he’s also shone with US political show and sister series Veep, foul-mouthed historical farce The Death of Stalin and the new Sky Atlantic series Avenue 5.
Here, Iannucci tones down his flair for a vulgar turn of phrase; his work is known for the most caustic insults (“kiss my sweaty balls you fat f*ck”, “That f*cker thinks he can take on the Red Army? I f*cked Germany, I think I can take a flesh lump in a waistcoat”) for something a little more gentle and good-natured. That isn’t to say that Iannucci isn’t above a silly joke or an insult, but the film’s rated PG in the UK and is definitely aiming for a nicer tone than his previous work.
The reputation of Dickens as a writer is that he has always been a very socially aware man. With that in, the people who complained that the BBC version of A Christmas Carol was ‘too PC’ are going to mess their undies when they see this Dickens adaptation. The choice to employ colourblind casting not only means that the film reflects the demographic mix of the UK, but also grants some of our most talented non-white performers a moment in the spotlight.
Dev Patel manages to keep the entire film afloat, even as it zips along – Dickens famously got paid by the word and he knew how to turn a phrase to make a buck. Here the 600-page novel gets whittled down to a neat two-hour story of one man facing the world. In less able hands, the role of David Copperfield (or whatever else he is called during the story) would fall apart and be a boring bystander of sorts, but in Patel someone so reliably brilliant he has continued to work not just steadily but productively since his break out role in Slumdog Millionaire.
It must be noted that Patel is surrounded by a deliciously enjoyable supporting cast who all give it their all. Ben Whishaw as nasty Uriah Heep is as good here as he was on the series A Very British Scandal, able to modulate being pathetic and villainous in equal measure. Tilda Swinton gets to go full erratic in her role as Copperfield’s well meaning upperclass aunt, her flair for comedy isn’t always well noted but given her sharp features she steals the entire film any time she’s on screen.
Two of the more interesting supporting roles go to Peter Capaldi as eloquent chancer Micawber. Having been made a household name by turns as both foul-mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It and as the time-travelling The Doctor in Doctor Who, Capaldi has rarely been able to show this side to his acting ability. He can do serious, and angry, but here he gets to show his flair for lighthearted. His cockney gent is light on his feet physically but shows a well-meaning silliness that he never got to show off during his tenure as the Time Lord.
Hugh Laurie, a current muse of sorts for Iannucci (he also has a recurring role in Veep, and starring in Avenue 5) has spent a large amount of his time in TV playing darker more tortured characters, not just as Dr Gregory House, but also in the short lived, and little seen Chance and as villainous Roper in The Night Manager. Here, as somewhat silly Mr Dick, Laurie gets to go back to his more lighthearted roots. In his role Laurie gets to show something he rarely does the kind of hopeful optimism he displays here.
While the film isn’t always on the surest of feet, its desire to be gentle undermines the darker aspects of the story, the film’s good nature is impossible to resist. Given that it has a rating that makes it viewable for the entire family it should be made viewing to show that cinema can be about good people being good, and not just about things going boom or people suffering. The gentle and well-meaning nature of the film will definitely make it a story worth coming back to time and time again. Dickens himself would have approved.
