EUROPE

This adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel, written and directed by Armando Iannucci, was just released in the UK and has its US release in May.

I haven’t read the novel, though I do know that David Copperfield is considered to be Dickens’ most autobiographical work (with his protagonist’s initials being his own, reversed).

I went to see the film with my husband and kids for a bit of a birthday treat, although my announcement of how I wanted to spend the evening didn’t go down well with everyone. My son, remembering having watched the trailer when we went to see Jojo Rabbit, muttered “hmm, is it that one with all the olden-timey people in it?” and then announced that he planned to hide on the night in question so he wouldn’t have to go. Our house is fairly small, without a ton of hiding places, so I told him all objections were futile; plus, you have to make concessions to other people’s wants on their birthday, so there.

He was mildly placated when he learnt it was a comedy, and it was proper laugh-out-loud funny in places and the antithesis of a typical Sunday night British costume drama. I like Hugh Laurie in anything, and the same goes for Tilda Swinton. The cast included many other favourites of the British small and big screen too, with a diverse cast that includes Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire, Lion) as David Copperfield; Ben Whishaw as the obsequious and creepy Uriah Heep, Peter Capaldi as Mr Micawber; Paul Whitehouse; Anna Maxwell-Martin; Nikki Amuka-Bird; and Morfydd Clark in a dual role as both David Copperfield’s mother and his improbably ringletted, lapdog-toting love interest. (Mummy issues, anyone?)

Iannucci, known for productions such as The Death of Stalin and The Thick of It, has lost his usual cynicism for this film, making it a warm-hearted, family friendly romp. The storyline was often pleasantly surreal, but it all hung together, and the film overall is an enjoyable ode to writing and to the liberation offered by a creative outlet.

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