Yule Love It: The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)

Based on a tale by Lee Standiford, The Man Who Invented Christmas shows us how Charles Dickens reinvigorated both the holiday season and his own reputation when he wrote and published A Christmas Carol.

Dan Stevens plays Dickens, who we first meet during a bit of a lean spell. He still has a good name, and fans, but he has not had a hit in some time, meaning that money is a bit tight in the Dickens household. Not that you would know that, as it continues to be spent on things that show the Dickens family to be better off than they actually are. Desperate for an injection of finances, and inspired by the influences of one or two characters around him, Dickens comes up with the idea of a Christmas tale that will save him from bankruptcy, if he gets it published in time.

Written by Susan Coyne and directed by Bharat Nalluri, this is a film that works beautifully from start to finish. The more I think about it, the more enjoyable I realise it was. It manages to paint a broad, and maybe not entirely accurate, picture of a certain time in the life of the celebrated author, yet it also manages to present the main events of A Christmas Carol in a way that is both familiar and a bit different from previous interpretations. Classic moments are presented, but they're either in the context of being imagined by Dickens as he crafts the tale, being intertwined with his own memories, or simply taking place around him, ready for his writer's mind to store them for later use. It's a great approach to the material, with the script full of many fun references and gags, and Nalluri ensuring that every scene is handsomely-mounted and up to the standards of any decent telling of the central tale.

Stevens is superb in the main role, as desperate to find the thread of his latest story as he is for an upturn in his finances, and he's surrounded by a wonderful assortment of players. Small roles for the likes of Miles Jupp (playing William Thackeray) and Bill Forsythe (a man who provides a couple of famous lines usually uttered by Scrooge) complement strong turns from Justin Edwards (as John Forster, close friend to Dickens), Jonathan Pryce (father to the author, and a man who seems incapable of managing his own finances, having previously erred so badly that it gave his son a lifetime of insecurity and fear), and Anna Murphy (Tara, a maid who provides the inspiration for the new work being a Christmas tale). Morfydd Clark (Kate Dickens), Miriam Margolyes (head housekeeper, Mrs. Fisk), and Simon Callow (as an illustrator) are also worth mentioning, as is Christopher Plummer, who lands himself the prize role of Ebenezer Scrooge, an imaginary creation who comes to life and is honed into the figure we all know during many conversations with his creator.

I wouldn't take anything here as a factual account of the life of Dickens but it provides a nice overview of the man, reinforces the impact that his classic tale had, and also proves interesting enough that those wanting to know more about Dickens will, hopefully, seek out some more material that provides more facts than fiction. This is a delightful story, pure and simple, that makes perfect use of a central figure known for giving us some delightful stories.

8/10

You can buy the disc here.
Americans can buy it here.

Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001)

Anyone who knows me either online or in the real world will know that I'm not only a fan of the Christmas season but also a huge fan of A Christmas Carol. After years spent watching movie adaptations, I finally got around to reading the original story when I was in my mid-20s and I rate it as one of the most delightful classics ever written. The fact that there have been a number of great movie adaptations over the years pleases me immensely but the fact that some people can take such great material and still somehow screw it up really irks me. From the numerous adaptations of the story that I've seen, none have screwed it up more than this one - a shockingly bad animated film that features a largely British vocal cast (to their, and my, eternal shame).

I'm not going to reiterate the story of Ebenezer Scrooge here because everyone already knows it. Okay, I'm being horribly assumptive there but I'd wager that ALMOST everyone reading this review knows of the tale so that's good enough for me. The story is changed this time around, but only ever so slightly. The main addition to the material comes in the shape of two mice who go alongside the main characters and observe everything. There's no reason to have these mice scampering around onscreen. They're just there to appeal to kids who like cute little animals.

With a vocal cast that includes Simon Callow, who also plays Charles Dickens in a small live-action prologue, Kate Winslet, Michael Gambon, Rhys Ifans, Nicolas Cage, Jane Horrocks, Juliet Stevenson and Robert Llewellyn (who is best known to many fans of UK comedy for his role as Kryten in Red Dwarf), this had the potential to be something very enjoyable indeed. There was even a hit song included, "What If" sung beautifully by the talented Miss Winslet. Everything had the potential to be great.

Sadly, all of the failings of the movie become obvious within mere moments. Director Jimmy T. Murakami gives audiences lifeless, flat and horribly poor animation while the script (actually written by Piet Kroon and Kryten, I mean, Robert Llewellyn) is so bad that it will hurt the ears of anyone who enjoys the best lines contained within the source material.

Then we have those vocal performances. It's only Kate Winslet who appears to have put any energy and effort into her performance whatsoever. Callow is especially disappointing in a lead role that most viewers, myself included, would expect him to attack with relish and from the rest of the cast, it's only Cage and Gambon who stand out, simply because their voices are more recognisable.

This film was so bad in every conceivable way that it actually made me angry while I watched it. The only good thing I can take away from the experience is knowing that it didn't sell quite as easily as those involved surely hoped it would, performing relatively poorly at the UK box office. I would advise everyone to avoid this travesty at all costs. Even if it just happens to come on telly while you're recovering from a typically excessive Christmas meal I urge you to rouse yourself from food-induced drowsiness for just long enough to change the channel. Nobody will thank you for leaving it on. Nobody.

2/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Christmas-Carol-the-Movie-DVD/dp/B00006SKV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354570845&sr=8-1