The Personal History Of David Copperfield (2020) - Movie Review

Given what happened last time we checked in with premium Scottish firebrand Armando Iannucci, this follow-up feels a bit… off. One of the current kings of darker and politically-minded comedy, after taking Stalin’s Russia to task in riotous fashion, decides to make an adaptation of a Charles Dickens novel. This is easily one of the broadest things he’s ever worked on, and at first glance, this feels like he’s actively playing against his own strengths on some form of artistic dare. But even though things have definitely been toned down here, it’s also surprisingly in-line with Iannucci’s aesthetic up to this point.

Iannucci may not be working blue, but he and co-writer Simon Blackwell still find a way to channel Iannucci’s incredible way with words through the linguistically-obsessed characters found in this story. From Dev Patel’s David and his recurring bouts of written memory, to Peter Capaldi’s Mr. Micawber, who is so verbose as to make me look succinct by comparison, to Daisy May Cooper’s Peggotty and her quite endearing levels of over-articulation. He finds an effective vein to keep up with what makes his writing work so damn well, fuckety or no fuckety, which makes his visual treatment of the story shine that much brighter.

I have a theory that he’s going with a more family-friendly story here because that means he can show just how much command he has over the cinematic medium to as many people as possible. The casting combined with Iannucci’s ability with actors means that not only is the dialogue great but so is the delivery, the costuming and framing are genuinely remarkable, and the presentation is fucking astounding. Combining theatre tricks (harking to Dickens’ own theatrical career), some of the smoothest mid-scene transitions I’m expecting to see all year, and even a scene of honest-to-goodness slient-movie slapstick; DOP Zac Nicholson and editor Peter Lambert’s synergy from Death Of Stalin seems to be improving with time.

But the biggest shock of this whole production is, oddly enough, the element of adaptation and adaptor that overlaps the most: The politics. Granted, this isn’t as explicitly about the bureaucratic clownery of Iannucci’s pedigree, but it still wields Dickensian class tragedy to make some poignant statements about class divide and social mobility. It even gives Iannucci and frequent collaborator Capaldi a chance to indulge in some darker material, with the Micawbers preparing to kill themselves to avoid debtor’s prison… while a young David watches. And because the presentation is so vibrant and aggressively charming (ditto for basically every actor here), it uses the fact that these ideas are still relevant to bring out a real timelessness in the original material.

This is not what I was expecting from one of the biggest thorns in the side of the modern British establishment, but after watching it, I cannot imagine it turning out any other way. It serves as a terrific vehicle for just how nimble Iannucci can be on the big screen, and it’s no less madcap than pretty much anything else he’s worked on, making for a rare shift into lower ratings that doesn’t require watering down the material or the talent to make it work.