It's 1843, London. After the success of the highly popular Oliver Twist 4 years prior, Dickens has issued a trio of works, all duds. The writer is buried under mountains of debt due to burning his financial candle at both ends. Forced at an early age into working at a factory when his family are thrown into a debtors prison, Dickens swears never to live in such poverty ever again. So while renovating a lush mansion with his wife and multiple children, the writer also gives generously to many social causes and charities. However, with the failed novels, Dickens' source of income has all but dried up.
The writer gets inspiration for a ghost story set at Christmas from a series of random events, including stumbling upon a funeral in which nobody came to pay their respects and the hiring of an Irish maid whose family traditions with Christmas intrigues Charles. There's only one problem with a book set at Christmas: in 1840s England, the holiday isn't really all that big of a thing and no publisher wants to publish the book.
Determined he's got a hit on his hands, Dickens decides to self publish the book. It's a desperate move that could see him and his family in debtor's prison should it fail. Plus in order to get the book into stores in time for Christmas, he's only got about 6 weeks to get it published. But first, he's got to write the thing!
The first couple of chapters flow easily. He imagines his characters interacting with him on a daily basis, letting the plot's course evolve naturally. It's when faced with blow-back at the death of a very popular character in the book does Dickens encounter writer's block. Added to the creative impasse is the trauma Charles encounters when his mother and father come back into his life. Now as his characters demand an ending, the writer learns that Scrooge isn't so much based on people he's met in his daily life; he is Scrooge!
As Dickens writes what will become known as A Christmas Carol, the characters he creates recite large passages of the book. I found myself quoting the book along with Scrooge, Bob Cratchit and others. This shocked me. I've always thought it's odd that characters in movies and TV can quote these lengthy passages of Shakespeare and other classics. Apparently, I can quote A Christmas Carol. Who knew?
The Man Who Invented Christmas seems to have not been a hit when it debuted in theaters back in 2017. It only netted about $10 million dollars worldwide. Coco, Justice League, and Murder on the Orient Express dominated the November box office. Throw in December's lineup with films like Pitch Perfect 3, one of the rebooted Jumanji films and The Last Jedi, this little Christmas movie didn't have a chance. Jump ahead 6 years and I came across this airing on a movie channel on Dish. I remember that my wife expressed interest in the movie when she saw the trailer back then. I was also interested. So, I DVR'd it and watched it over a cold and rainy weekend! The verdict- I LOVED IT!
While I had thought for some reason Steve Coogan was playing Charles Dickens, the film managed to really catch my interest. Dan Stevens was very good as the troubled writer. Yet when I think of Dickens writing this book, I don't visualize him being so young. Christopher Plummer was fantastic as Scrooge. Though I feel like an opportunity was missed not having Sir Patrick Stewart taking on the role, based on his annual theatrical performance of the work as a one man show. Jonathan Pryce is once again marvelous. (Note: he sure is in a lot of movies I like!) This time, he's Charles' father, who struggles with the loss of reputation and pride from his time in debtor's prison.
I really enjoyed the film. Though it only has 1 real scene occurring during Christmas, this is very much a Christmas movie. A Victorian Christmas movie! Full of some of the best scenes from A Christmas Carol! And it was based on a 2008 book by Les Standiford. One of which I look forward to making it a part of next year's tradition of further exploring the world of a Victorian London Christmas invented by Charles Dickens!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
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