The Man Who Invented Christmas

5 December 2017. This whimsical family period drama about Charles Dickens' experience in writing and in getting his Christmas classic, "A Christmas Carol" published offers up a delightful and penetrating movie tapping into the special nature of film. Using creative imagination, artistry, and some fascinating stylized characters, the movie's director and screenplay writer have brought to the screen a wonderful film that both tantalizes with its whimsy and penetrates with its emotional dramatic scenes that even enhance A Christmas Carol story itself. Unlike the trailers for this movie, the movie tends towards more of a dramatic tone with tender sad moments, flaring outbursts of emotional anger, redemption, all the while interspersed with imagining of the creative process of Mr. Dickens. Like A Christmas Carol itself, this movie presents a hidden side of Charles Dickens and nineteenth century Britain in a revealing and meaningful way. This move is a wonderful way to spend some reflective and enjoyable moments at the theater during these Holidays.

The definition of the modern Christmas we celebrate can be traced to legendary author Charles Dickens who made the timeless classic A Christmas Carol. Such an epic story is stemmed in the spirit of giving, hope, and redemption, a symbol that we aspire to hit and often not succeed. Where did the inspiration come from though? How did he get the ideas? I don't know, but the movie I'm reviewing tonight attempts to answer that question in an entertaining manner. Robbie K here sharing his opinions on The Man Who Invented Christmas starring Dan Stevens and Christopher Plummer.

LIKES:

The World: If you read my reviews, you know I'm a big fan of world building and settings. The Man Who Invented Christmas recreates the nostalgic world of 19th century London and all the class that once inhabited the world. Seeing the society of the times reemerge from the London fog brought a homey feeling to me, invoking the beginnings of the Christmas season in a world that once treated as a minor holiday. The attention to detail is astonishing, primarily in all the chaotic organization that was Dickens' life, primarily the study to where he pondered all his works. It is this factor that will pull you into the movie as the stage continues to unfold.

Clever Presentation: When attempting to answer how Charles got his motivation and do it in an entertaining manner, the team has to think outside the box for this one. The Man Who Invented Christmas managed to do this quite well in most manners, primarily in rendering his thoughts as personified beings, capable of interacting with him. His conversations with the characters is a creative representation of the stresses of his mind and how they influence the progression of the story. And very much like a scene out of Slum Dog Millionaire, the movie was able to also bring his supposed history into the mix to also motivate moments of the book. Much of it was predictable, but it was a nice homage to his life that filled in the gaps I had forgotten.

The Acting: By far the best element for me though is the acting held in this movie. The secondary characters do their part in serving as obstacles, motivations, and support for Dickens himself, especially his best friend and his father. Yet, the main piece to watch are the characters of Scrooge and Dickens himself. Christopher Plummer still has life within his older bones, playing the pompous Englishman to the letter. He captured all the quips, jabs, and sarcasm of the character and managed to get that bitter attitude toward life. Yet, Plummer also got the humorous part of the role down pat, almost like a rival/mentor showing tough love to accomplish the task. As for Stevens, his portrayal of the talented writer with the obsession for perfection was fantastic. Stevens managed to take the dual role of Charles Dickens and personify the internal struggle that was his life as he pursued his muse of an epic story. All the anger, frustration, and joy were quite balanced in this movie, hooking me into his life and keeping me in my seat until the final sequence faded to black.

DISLIKES:

Scene Placement: The movie does a nice job filling in the gaps, but at times I didn't enjoy the placement of the scenes. Mainly the flashback scenes, much of Dickens' past was scattered through this movie, dropped at odd moments that offset the momentum of the sequence. Some of these moments could have been better delivered at earlier moments, and may have minimized the confusion of why he was so angry. Not sure whose direction it was to place things in this order, but it didn't work for me at times.

Background Characters: As you watch his story progress, you get to see new characters emerge as his world starts to motivate him to write. Yet unlike Scrooge, with whom he constantly interacts with, many of the other characters are just background bodies who smile, laugh, and kind of look odd. Sure, I understand the personification of what they mean during his writer's block and how they were connected to his central character, but why did they remain constantly in the background? I don't have those answers, but it was kind of odd having them randomly walking around with him and doing little past that. Sorry guys, not a fan of limited use characters.

The diluted emotion: I expected the movie about the guy who revolutionized Christmas to be a little more emotionally charged. Sadly, this film didn't quite pack the holiday joy and magic that his tale was able to elicit long ago when I watched the Muppet version long ago. While inspirational, I didn't get overwhelmed with feelings that made me embrace the holiday season. I felt this was due to some of the movie magic being left out of the movie, giving it that realistic twist, but unfortunately drying up the specialness those hokey, overdramatic effects bring to the table. This tale would have benefited from a page in the Hallmark channel book in terms of motivating you to inherit the spirit of Christmas.

The VERDICT:

The Man Who Invented Christmas is an immersive film that uses setting, presentation, and incredible acting to bring the 19th century to life. Despite all the cool insights into Dickens' life though, this movie lacks cinematic magic, logical use of characters, and pacing that is important in films. This movie could have done well on a television release, or streaming movie rather than a theater presentation. It does hold potential for a church outing, but this reviewer recommends holding out until it comes to home viewing.

My scores are:

Biography/Comedy/Drama: 8.0 Movie Overall: 7.0

I was all set to dislike this. The title is so pompous that it's bound to fail. The thing is that there is enough factual biographical material to float the boat. Most of the major events did take place. What makes this work is the incorporation of characters from "A Christmas Carol" who play a role in his creative process. Christoper Plummer is excellent as the incarnation of Ebenezer Scrooge. Obviously, these are in the mind of the great writer and portrayed in a corporeal form in the movie. We see Dickens as a flawed man who overspends and over reacts. It is a fun film to look at as eighteenth century England is front and center. It was also neat to see some interesting angles relating to the book.

It actually took me a while to put this movie into a box. Is it a biography about Charles Dickens, or another version of the classic story being told? It's both.

It's actually like you watch a theater play that includes special effects you all have to imagine yourself during a play. You can clearly see the theatrical approach that the director wanted to take here. Christopher Plummer is an excellent Scrooge, the perfect fit! Even though this film throws in a good bit of comedy into the pot, it doesn't harm the story at all. If anything, it brings a little bit of freshness to the old classic of "A Christmas Carol".

I wouldn't describe it as a Christmas movie, or something that the whole family can enjoy for Christmas, but it certainly is a (long needed) new and modern approach to this story and that is still fascinating me, that this story indeed, never gets old.

This was my favorite Christmas movie of 2018. That said, you can watch this movie any time of year because it's not really solely a Christmas movie. It's about Charles Dickens trying to write and get "A Christmas Carol" published. So most of the story actually takes place in the fall as he struggles with writers block. It's more an inspiring story about a creative person struggling to accomplish something worthwhile, and because of the elements of the story he's writing, it has Christmas elements now. Save it for Christmas 2019, or watch it now. But just watch it!!!