The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)

The Personal History of David Copperfield is based on the story by Charles Dickens but is given a twist by Armando Iannucci. To be honest I haven’t read David Copperfield and have no desire to do so but I have seen several versions of this story and its only because that Iannucci is involved is the reason why I went to the cinema. It took me about 30 seconds to start laughing because with an Iannucci and Simon Blackwell script, what you do get is plenty of humour and it runs through this film from start to finish. 

As there has been several thousand (slight exaggeration) versions of this story I wont really spend any time talking about it as the film is more interesting for the performances. Dev Patel is very good as David Copperfield. His younger self was also interesting but Patel brings a likeable quality to the character and despite all the horrible things that happen to him during the course of the film but he still maintains a calm point of view. Peter Capaldi is very funny as Mr. Micawber. I’m a huge Doctor Who fan so found Capaldi fun to watch. Hugh Laurie is always dependable but as Mr Dick he makes perfect use of his comedic skills to bring us a slightly bonkers guy. I couldn’t help but think of his performance as Prince George in Blackadder 3. Other notable performances include Daisy May Cooper as Peggotty who is the first friendly face that Copperfield sees and becomes the anchor for most of the action in the film. 

The directing is quite good during this film. It’s nothing special by any means but there are a couple of instances where it has to show something or shift to a different scene and does so by changing the background to a drape and having the drape then rise or sink and then there are a couple of moments where images are projected onto a background which I thought worked quite well. 

I really liked this film. I don’t think its quite as good as some of Iannucci’s other films but to be honest he has managed to do something different and put a new spin on a story that has been done some many times. In fact in the trailers there was a new version of Emma which seems like it is the same as every other version of the story. If you want something game changing then I wouldn’t go and see this film but if you want something that’s enjoyable and can just submerse yourself in this world then this film is worth a go.