This is a really unusual film. Armando Iannucci has taken the brave decision to not just cast some black and Asian actors in major roles that at first glance seem to be a strange fit, but the way the story is presented is also unusual for a period piece. Yet for the most part it works mixing Charles Dickens social commentary of one mans personal journey through life with it's up and downs alongside some amusing dialogue and a satisfying conclusion.
Firstly Dev Patel puts in a great solid performance as the titular david Copperfield. The fact that here is a British Indian actor playing a role traditionally played by a white actor was jarring for a short while , but after a few minutes you do start to believe in him and it quickly fades from being an issue. In fact the only thing that seemed strange was that Patel , at 29, looked a fraction too old to be playing the character during his formative years. However that really was my only gripe.
The supporting cast are all excellent. The superb and reliable Tilda Swinton has never put in a bad performance in any film and is at home in a period piece like this as she is in a Coen brothers film or assisting Bruce Banner in Avengers Endgame. Hugh Laurie seems to be a good fit in most period pieces too (think of his Prince George in Blackadder or Bertie Wooster) and does so again plus Ben Whishaw makes a suitably creepy and slimy Uriah Heep. However my personal favourite of the supporting cast is Benedict Wong who makes for a fantastically likeable, amusing and blustering Mr Wickfield. Peter Capaldi is also charming and sympathetic as Mr Micawber (although his London accent does seem a little strained at times) and special mention to Rosalind Eleazar who turns in a nicely balanced and very human performance as Agnes Wickfield.
The use of authentic East Anglian location filming works well enough and the time the photography is gorgeous. I did have reservations were with the slightly unusual way the story is told, with David Copperfield sometimes dropping in on scenes from his own life and the way it occasionally jumps around in the editing. It is a little odd to see this in a film of this nature. It doesn't make a huge difference to the way it is told but aesthetically it feels strange in a film that is old fashioned at heart but told in a modern way. Also i'm sure purists will not be happy about the way some scenes are glossed over, compacted or missed completely but to be fair Ianucci does a decent job at stopping the story from becoming boring and to keep it to a running time of two hours (and remember the novel is 624 pages long) so in a sense it is a compromise to keep the spirit of Dickens story there without it being 100% faithful. So whilst it is unlikely to become compulsory viewing for future GCSE students due to its abridged style, as a modern take on the story it still works pretty well at introducing the non book reader to a literary classic. There are more accurate film and television adaptations out there but I don't think that was ever the directors intention and if entertainment was his end goal then he has succeeded here.
Firstly Dev Patel puts in a great solid performance as the titular david Copperfield. The fact that here is a British Indian actor playing a role traditionally played by a white actor was jarring for a short while , but after a few minutes you do start to believe in him and it quickly fades from being an issue. In fact the only thing that seemed strange was that Patel , at 29, looked a fraction too old to be playing the character during his formative years. However that really was my only gripe.
The supporting cast are all excellent. The superb and reliable Tilda Swinton has never put in a bad performance in any film and is at home in a period piece like this as she is in a Coen brothers film or assisting Bruce Banner in Avengers Endgame. Hugh Laurie seems to be a good fit in most period pieces too (think of his Prince George in Blackadder or Bertie Wooster) and does so again plus Ben Whishaw makes a suitably creepy and slimy Uriah Heep. However my personal favourite of the supporting cast is Benedict Wong who makes for a fantastically likeable, amusing and blustering Mr Wickfield. Peter Capaldi is also charming and sympathetic as Mr Micawber (although his London accent does seem a little strained at times) and special mention to Rosalind Eleazar who turns in a nicely balanced and very human performance as Agnes Wickfield.
The use of authentic East Anglian location filming works well enough and the time the photography is gorgeous. I did have reservations were with the slightly unusual way the story is told, with David Copperfield sometimes dropping in on scenes from his own life and the way it occasionally jumps around in the editing. It is a little odd to see this in a film of this nature. It doesn't make a huge difference to the way it is told but aesthetically it feels strange in a film that is old fashioned at heart but told in a modern way. Also i'm sure purists will not be happy about the way some scenes are glossed over, compacted or missed completely but to be fair Ianucci does a decent job at stopping the story from becoming boring and to keep it to a running time of two hours (and remember the novel is 624 pages long) so in a sense it is a compromise to keep the spirit of Dickens story there without it being 100% faithful. So whilst it is unlikely to become compulsory viewing for future GCSE students due to its abridged style, as a modern take on the story it still works pretty well at introducing the non book reader to a literary classic. There are more accurate film and television adaptations out there but I don't think that was ever the directors intention and if entertainment was his end goal then he has succeeded here.