"Mr. Scrooge. How Delightful to meet you, Sir." The man who Invented Christmas Review

The man who Invented Christmas

2/5

Directed by: Bharat Nalluri

Rated: PG

           In the year 1843 one of the greatest celebrities in the world, British novelist Charles Dickens, was sitting in his chambers with a dripping ink quill in his right hand, a clean sheet of paper in front of him and absolutely no new stories inside his mind. Dickens was out of inspiration, out of popularity and slowly running out of money. Then one night, as if fate itself saw it fit, a story came to Dickens in the most marvelous way. It is a story about a covetous old sinner who is visited by three spirits on Christmas eve and how these spirits change this old miser's cold unkind heart into a loving and generous one. Though Dickens originally wanted to title this novella "Humbug, a Miser's Lament," it is far more widely known by its proud best selling title "A Christmas Carol."

           The man who Invented Christmas follows three story lines throughout its brief one hour and 44 minute runtime. The film tells the story of Charles Dickens' early life, his relationship with his father, and how he came to write "A Christmas Carol." Dan Stevens stars as the British word smith himself, Mr. Charles Dickens. Full of wit, eccentricism and dry humor, Stevens brings a portrayal of the famous author so iconic, audience members may find themselves reading Dickens' books adopting Stevens' voice and mannerisms. Playing along side Stevens is Jonathan Pryce as Dickens' foolishly ambitious and everloving father, John Dickens. Pryce's performance is so full of cheer and pleasant humor it makes it difficult for audience members to stay mad at Dickens' father. One last stand out performance is found in Dickens' fictitious manifested character Ebenezer Scrooge, played very well by Christopher Plummer. Plummer's portrayal of the famous miser is as cold as ice, sharp as a flint and calculating as a money lender. There are plenty of other good performances in this film, and they all do their part playing characters in Dickens' real life and playing similar characters in Dickens' fictitious work "A Christmas Carol."

           Though The man who Invented Christmas tells a worthwhile and interesting story, its screenplay is combined of equal parts success and missteps. Since this film attempts to juggle three seemingly separate stories, it is only natural this film's screenplay may at times be impactful and precise and at other times be weak and muddled. This sway of the script is not constricted to only one of the film's three plots, but occurs between all three. No matter which of these film's three plots an audience member latches on to the most, audience members will find scenes that they appreciate and always remember and other scenes they tolerate and eventually forget.

           If this film were about a writer who was not a noteworthy novelist, this film could easily be written off as another run of the mill biographical feature. It is because this film's subject matter is so enticing (it is the story of Charles Dickens, his early life, his relation with his father and how he came to write one of the greatest Christmas stories ever written) that The man who Invented Christmas is worth watching at least once. It might not be worth box office admission, but it is worth renting or watching on home release.

Verdict: The man who Invented Christmas is a unique and well done biographical picture about Charles Dickens and "A Christmas Carol," but it does not offer enough meaningful substance to please less avid fans of the film's source material.