Mr. Movie: ‘The Personal History of David Copperfield’ offers comedic take on Dickens’ classic

“The Personal History of David Copperfield” has a twist or two and a couple of changes added but it mostly follows Charles Dickens’ book. Oh, and if you’re really into Dickens, it’s more or less a comedy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, there’s some drama stuck in there, too, but the movie is not close to as dramatic as the novel Dickens published in 1850.

Dev Patel stars as Copperfield. As a child, he’s the victim of a nasty-dispositioned stepfather who sends him packing. Later in life, Copperfield reconnects with his estranged aunt. Living with her is a guy named Dick whose wild imagination connects with Copperfield’s equally vivid creativity.

The aunt sends him to a school to teach him how to be a gentleman. This is where he meets a man who becomes his best friend. As Copperfield slides into life after school, romance follows as do other crises similar to those found in Dickens’ book.

All of this is packed into an often funny script that shows off the comic talents of Patel, former Dr. Who, Peter Capaldi and Hugh Laurie whose fame is from the TV show “House.” They and Tilda Swinton and a few other, very good, younger actors and actresses have a blast with the material.

Patel and his co-stars manage to do most of this with the straightest of faces. It had to be difficult. “The Personal History of David Copperfield” is co-written and directed by Armando Iannucci. He also co-wrote “The Death of Stalin” in 2017.

It has the same kind of campy humor.

The bulk of the heavy lifting — however — belongs to Patel. He can do drama as demonstrated in “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Hotel Mumbai.” However, as we learned from “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” this is the type of role that Patel does best. He oozes naivete. It is this positive innocence that makes him perfect as a comic David Copperfield.

There are flashes of drama in the script but no one in the cast manages to be able to sell those moments. A serious line is tossed off but as soon as it is delivered and the scene changes, you feel like the actors are a second or two away from busting a gut. You’re in the same boat. The movie is that silly.

But — oddly — it works.

Another interesting aspect of Iannucci’s movie is the multiracial casting. Some are going to point to the social unrest being seen these days as the reason. It’s not. The movie was released to festivals last year and it’s usually at least a year between the shooting of a movie and its release.

Patel is said to have convinced Iannucci to take what the actor calls a “color-blind” approach to the casting. Different races are cast in parts where that character wouldn’t necessarily be of that race. The point — I assume — is to emphasize the human aspect of Dickens’ writing and to show that no matter what color a person is, we’re all human.

It works very well and especially well in a story that is as human as one can get.

That brings us back to Dickens. Iannucci appears to be a big fan of the author. He did a TV documentary on Dickens in 2012 titled “Armando’s Tale of Charles Dickens.” That one took a lot of liberties with the author’s stories. It had ordinary people addressing some of the issues brought up by Dickens in his novels.

Again, back to Dickens. Persnickety fans of the classic author may find the partial parody of his novel David Copperfield to be painful. The rest of us will find Copperfield’s personal history a pleasure, and one packed with light snickers, a chuckle or two, and from time to time, a belly laugh.

▪ Rated PG for mature themes. The film is playing in theaters in some areas and will go wider release as theaters reopen.

▪ Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5

This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 3:11 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie: ‘The Personal History of David Copperfield’ offers comedic take on Dickens’ classic."