The Personal History of David Copperfield- Review by Ahseem Yousuf (07/02/20)
I had zero expectations coming into this film, I hadn’t seen any trailers and had no idea who “David Copperfield is- was this supposed to be a biopic of the famed magician? Spoiler alert- it isn’t. No, the film actually follows the life story of the fictional Charles Dickens character “David Copperfield” played by Dev Patel. We follow the character from a young boy all the way through to adulthood and experience his life and the quirky charters he encounters. To start with some positives, the film is very beautiful to look at. Period film and drama are a staple of UK film-making and this movie once again exemplifies our mastery of it. The costumes are elegant and detailed with beautiful colours that take you right back to the Victorian era. However, this film is an example of one that doesn’t really have a story, things sort of just happen and there’s no central narrative that drives the film forward. It’s one of the few films I’ve seen that feels like a mix of subplots that never really go anywhere. One could argue this reflects life itself, but I attribute it to poor writing. This is surprising given the director (Armando Iannucci’s) previous works such as The Death of Stalin. However, the events themselves and the characters introduced are entertaining and I did enjoy watching those little stories unfold. The film is very funny, and I found myself laughing more than I thought I would at a period piece. One thing that really surprised me was the casting. This film, despite having a relatively low budget, has some real A-list talent tied to it. From the likes of Hugh Laurie and Tilda Swinton to Benedict Wong and Peter Capaldi. If you threw in some Harry Potter actors too, you’ll have a film comprised of the best that British acting has to offer. While the casting is good, I feel at times the characters are simply archetypes and they don’t have a lot of depth to them. Certain characters are villainous for the sake of being villainous and are devoid of any human emotion. The film has a pantomime feel to it, this could be due to the way in which the Victorian era is portrayed. I noticed many issues such as racism were never brought up, this despite the fact the main character is Indian and would have faced discrimination by the upper-class circle he lives in. This romanticising of Victorian life gives the era a more whimsical feel that, while not accurate, does help make the film feel more charming. “The Personal History of David Copperfield” is not a perfect film, I won’t personally be watching it again and I don’t think it deserves as much praise as it’s getting. 95% on rotten tomatoes is far too much for a film that is just average and doesn’t really say much. To me this is a nice family friendly film and I think people who enjoy period dramas would love this film, but for a general audience I could imagine the novelty of the movie growing stale quick.
Rating 2.5/5 stars
A film that’s just ok, not great, not bad…but just ok.
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