The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)
This is it. This is my last review for this Christmas season, and fittingly it is also the inspiration for my url. This has been a wonderful experience that I plan on continuing next year to the best of my ability. I will be making a separate account for reviews January through October, but this one will stay Christmas.
Ok, so this story is kind of another version of A Christmas Carol, but it's actually about how Charles Dickens created the story. It's considered a biography/drama/comedy.
Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens) is the famous author of Oliver Twist in Europe and America but he has had three books flop in the year since. He refuses to tell his wife, Kate (Morfydd Clark) about the financial strain, even though she's been renovating their house. The only person he is honest with about his financial concerns is his good friend, John Forster (Justin Edwards). Charles and John try to get the situation resolved at the publishing house that has printed all of Charles's work so far, but after three flops, they're starting to withhold funds to make up for lost expenses. They won't grant an advance until they know they like the next book (a book Charles hasn't started yet, he just needs the advance money). Charles and John are at lunch after, where they see Thackery (Miles Jupp), another author who makes petty comments that are insults disguised as friendship. They also have a waiter (Pat Mooney) who is very clumsy and very old. Charles asks his name, and it's Marley. Charles writes "Marley" in a little notepad he carries with him. John explains to the waiter that "he collects names," obviously for potential future characters as we see throughout the movie.
Later that night, Charles is working in his study (no one is allowed to disturb him while he is working) when he overhears screaming. He finds the new housemaid Tara (Anna Murphy) telling the children a ghost story. He talks to her the next day and finds out it's a story she grew up hearing. She's an Irish orphan sent to London for work, but back in Ireland, her grandma always said that Christmas Eve was when the spirits could visit and walk among us. Tara continues to surprise Charles because she knows how to read without a formal education (her mom taught her) and she loves to read horror and fantasy books.
Shortly after, Charles's father, Mr. John Dickens (Jonathan Pryce), comes to visit. We learn fairly quickly that John Dickens is not good with money and has been poor for years, however he feels that he is a gentleman and entitled to everything that merits. You can see how someone who doesn't live within their means might run into problems, especially in the time of debtor's prisons and work houses. However, I'm not really sure why he's still so broke because Charles paid for his house outright and gives him a monthly allowance, so if he worked even part time, he would be comfortable. But no. Whatever. Charles is working and avoiding his father when he finally meets Scrooge (Christopher Plummer). And when I say meets, I mean that when he finds the right name for a character, the character physically manifests. Some of the characters look like people in his life: John is the Ghost of Christmas Present, Tara is the Ghost of Christmas Past, Mr. Haddock is the ghost of Jacob Marley, Charles's sister Fanny (Katie McGuinness) is Mrs. Cratchit, her husband Henry (Marcus Lamb) is Mr. Cratchit, and their son Henry Jr. (Pearse Kearney) is the famous Tiny Tim.
The next day, Charles goes to the publishers to pitch his story. They are less than enthusiastic about it; they have no Christmas spirit, thus no motivation to publish a Christmas story in six weeks to get it in stores before Christmas. Charles decides this story is too important, so he'll publish it himself. He needs funds for that, so he pays the aforementioned Mr. Haddock a visit. I don't understand the economics of the time well enough to know what Mr. Haddock's official title was, but it is some combination of lawyer and banker. John is there, appalled by how much Charles is sinking himself into debt, especially having the father he does. But Charles isn't going to be slowed down, so off to the illustrator! Mr. Leech (Simon Callow) is convinced it's not possible to finish in time, but after getting his ego stroked a bit, he agrees to the undertaking.
Things are going well, with Scrooge and Tara adding in their thoughts, until the last chapter. Charles gets a nasty writer's block. He has to resolve some issues with his past before he can figure out the end of the story. Kate is having trouble coping with all his mood swings.
This movie is true to the time period, true to the book with all the quotes being direct quotes, but most importantly, true to how a writer's brain works. There is also very interesting information given at the beginning and end of the film.
There's a reason it inspired my url. 5 stars.
