The Personal History Of David Copperfield is a dazzling Dickensian delight

Colourful, captivating and preposterously delightful, Armando Iannucci’s free-spirited adaptation of Dickens’ David Copperfield brings a vibrant contemporary energy to the classic metronomic rags to riches to rags to riches tale.

Chronicling his turbulent upbringing, the film begins with a quintessentially Dickensian framing device as David Copperfield (Dev Patel) narrates his own life story to a packed theatre audience. From birth and childhood through his school days to his first forays into adulthood, Copperfield encounters an eclectic cast of rogues, scoundrels and eccentrics as his fortunes rise and fall and rise again. Respectful of the source novel, the adaptation still finds fresh and inventive ways to bring the story to life and though, naturally, Iannucci and cowriter Simon Blackwell find themselves drawn to the comedic potential of the text, the casting is so note-perfect that even while the film revels in a kind of mannered absurdity, the talented cast bring a depth of emotion and pathos which makes the comedy all the sweeter.

It’s one of those films where it’s almost impossible to pick your favourite performance because each reminiscence leads to another and soon everyone’s your favourite. Patel is brilliant as the titular Copperfield, managing to hold his own as everyone else tries to steal the film out from under him. Hugh Laurie, Peter Capaldi and Tilda Swinton are equally wonderful to watch while Ben Wishaw’s Uriah Heep is a sleazy, queasy delight as the oily and obsequiously devious ‘villain’ of the piece. But there are no small parts in this sprawling tale of a lifetime and everyone makes their mark in this exquisitely staged period dramedy.

Writer/ Directer Armando Ianucci (The Death Of Stalin) It’s an utterly charming film, simultaneously archly affected and somehow completely authentic. The colour-blind casting is a masterstroke, robbing the story and screen of nothing and bringing a wealth of talent to the screen, with Dickens’ characters big enough to transcend such petty concerns.

The Personal History Of David Copperfield is a perfect, irresistibly whimsical symphony of classic literature, inspired screen adaptation and wonderfully simpatico performances from a dazzling and diverse cast.

the personal history of david copperfield review
Score 10/10


Hi there! If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up to get new posts sent straight to your inbox?

Sign up to receive a weekly digest of The Craggus' latest posts.

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

logo

Related posts

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children (2016) Review

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (2016) Review

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children could be Professor X's pre-school Marvel movies are notoriously not allowed to use the ‘m’ word and you’ll find it curiously absent from Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children… even if it feels like an “X-Men” story co-written by J K...

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024) Review

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024) Review

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is far better than it has any right to be Some things never change – and thankfully, Axel Foley’s wisecracking charm is one of those timeless delights. Eddie Murphy’s return in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F - a source of trepidation following Beverly Hills Cop...

The Santa Clause 2 (2002) Review

The Santa Clause 2 (2002) Review

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of the North Pole, must be in want of a wife. Eight years after taking up the red suit and becoming Santa Claus, Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) is back in The Santa Clause 2 — a sequel that turns up the festive cheer and...

Hellboy (2019) Review

Hellboy (2019) Review

Well I’ll be damned. Hellboy is a special form of purgatory. Hellboy (2019) is notably the movie Ed Skrein got the best notices of his entire career for – and he’s not actually in it. Unfortunately, it’s probably going to be the only good reviews this botched, bad-faith reboot is likely...

Zardoz (1974) Review

Zardoz (1974) Review

The gun is good. The penis is evil. This #review is somewhere in between. "Zardoz" is one of the Seventies’ most bizarre dystopian sci-fi curiosities (in a decade brimming with them), and possibly one of the strangest movies ever to come from a major studio. Coming off the...

Booksmart (2019) Review

Booksmart (2019) Review

P-A-R-T-Y? Because you oughtta! Adorable, authentic and aspirationally acerbic, “Booksmart” is a comic triumph that skewers the high school graduate experience and forms the impudent middle chapter of a loose thematic coming-of-age trilogy which starts with “Eighth Grade” and segues into...

Kung Fury (2015) Review

Kung Fury (2015) Review

Everybody might be kung fu fighting but they should be Kung Fury watching! Back in December 2013, Swedish filmmaker David Sandberg started a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to produce his all-encompassing tribute to 1980’s action movies, “Kung Fury”. While the Kickstarter fell short...

The Boys Season One

The Boys Season One

Mister X finds himself in the danger zone of giving a perfect score after playing with The Boys. New from the creative minds (Seth Rogen and Garth Ennis) that adapted the dark, barbaric and satirical comic book "Preacher" for Amazon comes another bleak, cynical and darkly humourous tale...