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‘Man Who Invented Christmas’ a delight

It combines ‘A Christmas Carol,’ Dickens’ biography

By Rick Bentley, Tribune News Service
Published: November 24, 2017, 5:24am

There have been numerous TV, film and stage adaptations of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” over the years. None have combined as much charm, warmth and holiday spirit as Bharat Nalluri’s “The Man Who Invented Christmas.”

OK. Before you start shouting “Bah, humbug,” this technically isn’t a direct adaptation of the well-known story of Ebenezer Scrooge, Jacob Marley, Tiny Tim and those three ghosts that Dickens wrote in six weeks in 1843. This version has taken the novella and blended it with biographical material to look at the journey Dickens made from being mired in a writing funk after three flops to creating one of the greatest pieces of literature.

Dan Stevens, who has already showed a great acting range through his work in the live-action version of “Beauty and the Beast” and the thought-provoking “The Ticket,” takes on the role of Dickens. It’s a demanding part as the character goes from an international celebrity to a man wrestling with soul-wrenching demons. The story suggests Dickens had such a vivid imagination that his characters would spring to life as soon as he found the proper name for them.

Stevens handles every challenge thrown at him, even when Dickens appears to be on the verge of madness as he allows himself to be judged by the characters that he’s fashioned in his mind. There’s an energy to the way Stevens plays the role that makes even the film’s darkest moment when Dickens faces his darkest fears feel alive.

His companion on the quest to finish the book is a manifestation of Scrooge (Christopher Plummer), who serves as both a writing guide as Dickens finds his way through the novel and as a personification of all that Dickens sees wrong with the world and himself.

Plummer’s performance beautifully gets across the best and worst of Scrooge to make this one of the most entertaining versions of the character ever played. The actor has the great ability to be both a Scrooge with a black heart and one who, like Dickens, has finally faced his demons.

Much of the darkness in the writer’s life comes from his relationship with his scallywag of a father, John Dickens (Jonathan Pryce). Dickens is burdened by the natural need for a son to have his father’s approval while trying to keep his father out of sight and mind. This emotional battle is helping choke his creative drive.

The screenplay for “The Man Who Invented Christmas” by Susan Coyne is based on the book by historian Les Standiford that dramatizes the period when Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol.”

God bless the filmmakers, one and all, for creating such a treat.

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