Aptly timed—since 2020 marks the 150th year since the death of Charles Dickens. Dickens was the first international literary celebrity, perhaps because his novels demonstrated remarkable empathy for downtrodden people, introducing a great range of captivating characters. Scottish director Armando Iannucci's revisionist version begins in 1850 in a London theater, where David Copperfield (Dev Patel) addresses the audience, speculating on whether he’ll turn out to be the hero of his own life. In a flashback, there’s young David (Jairaj Varsani) enduring a difficult Victorian childhood.
According to the imperious Aunt Betsey Trotwood (Tilda Swinton)—he was supposed to be a girl. Indeed, his perfidious schoolmate, Steerforth (Aneurin Barnard), calls him “Daisy.” Yet David is adored and comforted by the housekeeper, Peggotty (Daisy Mae Cooper). After his widowed mother Clara (Morfydd Clark) marries mean Edward Murdstone (Darren Boyd), David is promptly dispatched to work in Murdstone’s London factory.
When David bolts, his adventures begin. Everywhere he travels, the resilient, now-adult David (Dev Patel) discovers revealing picaresque characters to populate the book he someday hopes to write. There’s Aunt Betsey’s lodger, Mr. Dick (Hugh Laurie), obsessed by the severing of King Charles II’s head, and homeless Mr. Micawber (Peter Capaldi), noting: “We do primarily exist alfresco. Every meal is a picnic!” Chief among the scheming nasties is unctuous, patronizing Uriah Heep (Ben Whishaw).
Working with screenwriter Simon Blackwell, Iannucci astutely casts likable Dev Patel as the coming-of-age title character. Throughout the film, Iannucci indulges in diverse, color-blind casting, along with magical realism, lending an aura of incredulity to Dickens’ scrappy, stylized mixture of fact and fantasy. Optional.