Talkie Tuesday: The Man Who Invented Christmas

"Bah, humbug!"

Hello everyone!

Okay. OKAY. 

I know what you're thinking.

The weather ouside is FINALLY starting to warm up, the sun's shining, the birds are tweeting around, and here she is, watching Christmas movies.

In my defense, I watched this one just as the tail end of the last snowmageddon rushed through our town.

So really, there's no excuse not to post the review, right? Right.

Anyway, I was sold on the movie when I saw the trailer, which was a while ago, so The Man Who Invented Christmas was on my watch list in any event.

And oh, yes, there's Dan Stevens.

I'll freely admit I'm a fan of the man, have been since seeing him in Beauty and the Beast and then realizing I should update my knowledge of all the roles he's had so far (post Downton Abbey, which, I must say, I still have to finish ... I know one of my friends, if she's reading this, is rolling her eyes sky-high by now. Sorry?). And then I should probably keep a look-out for all his future roles, too, for obvious reasons.

So when I saw the trailer and promos for The Man Who Invented Christmas, I thought to myself, this is something I should watch.

Also, side-note, in a previous review of mine I made this little comment about Charles Dickens being a lot of things, but certainly not funny. Obviously, someone in the universe has a really great sense of humour because I have now realized my mistake, and have to recant that statement.

#life

Moving on to the actual movie here.

We begin with Charles Dickens fresh off his high of Oliver Twist (at least I THINK it was Oliver Twist) and touring America, going flat on stages because Americans like shooting toy canons, and writing letters home to his publishers about how nutty they are, how he loves them, and how he just wants to go home.

Fast forward a little bit to when Charles and his wife (and their brood of children - seriously, if you ever pick up any Oxford version of his work, you'll also get a timeline of his life in there, and let me tell you, this guy puts Queen Victoria to shame) are redecorating their home, a bigger house in London they've moved into, and Charles hasn't written anything new since ... well, since Oliver Twist.

And his publishers are getting antsy.

Come to think of it, DICKENS is getting antsy, and I can understand him. As someone who does a lot of writing herself, it's intolerable when you're NOT doing it!

Also, he needs cash. Have I mentioned that yet?

So in order to restore everyone's faith in him, and sort of wandering about London gathering inspiration, Dickens begins writing what's probably one of his most famous works to date: A Christmas Carol.

Only, he needs to write this, get it to the publishers, and have it illustrated within six weeks so it can be on shelves for Christmas.

Talk about pressure!

Anyway, he begins by imagining a stingy character after stumbling upon a rich man's poorly attended funeral, and let me tell you, seeing Dan Stevens crash through the house and run up the stairs screaming HUMBUG! is something I'd pay big money to see, not just buy the movie for.

Again, as a fellow (would-be) writer, I can also sympathise quite well with his name quest. As he says: name the character and he shall appear, but sometimes it's BLOODY HARD to find a name that fits!

Of course, if it's Scrooge, eventually you get to it. And then you get to see Christopher Plummer be absolutely amazing as Scrooge throughout the movie.

Having finally gotten to the main character, Dickens then proceeds to write out the rest of it, including finding inspiration with his own sick relatives, all the while studiously ignoring his parents, most notably his rather bizarre father (Jonathan Pryce managed to get back to London from Port Royal after all!). We later learn that he honestly just resents his father for being such a flake and sending the family into the debtor's prison while Charles was forced to work in a blacking factory (this means making shoes black again, natch).

Things don't just go swimmingly along, either.

Increasingly on the outs with his family because he's under strain to finish the story, Dickens also struggles with Scrooge's ending, because initially, he wants Tiny Tim to die (and hearing Plummer call anyone an imbecile is a lark). Tara, an Irish housemaid who helps him throughout the movie, suggests that he uses the character of Tiny Tim as a sort of redemption arc for Scrooge. Dickens dismisses this, and then dismisses HER at one point in a fit of rage, too.

Still, as this is a Christmas movie, what happens is that we sort of get to live through A Christmas Carol with Dickens, meaning we follow Marley's ghost, and the ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future (at which point I roll out of my chair laughing when, upon encountering the scary Future ghoul, Scrooge points out he really thinks Dickens should follow it instead, chop chop!).

Facing his own insecurities through trying to finish his story, Dickens - and the character of Scrooge, which he uses as his outlet - comes to terms with his past and reconciles both with Tara and his father, before finishing the manuscript (and not letting Tiny Tim die!).

The movie ends with the Dickens family celebrating the holidays, A Christmas Carol being published and becoming an overnight success, and a little note added about the impact the story still has on today.

The end.

The impact part is honest truth, really: Coca Cola might have invented Santa Claus as we know him today, but it was Dickens who reminded people what the spirit of Christmas was all about. Christmas is a time to give and be thankful, and I think we need reminding of it, especially nowadays, considering how insanely crazy everyone seems to get when it comes to presents and shopping.

And while perhaps not every little detail of this movie is one hundred percent accurate - the message remains the same.

Which, in the end, is the most important thing.

xx

*images and video not mine