Christmas is less than 10 days away! How is that even possible? This is the time of year where everyone starts watching Christmas movies, so I had better get reviewing some of them! For my first review for this Christmas season I will be talking about a movie about the writing of one of the most famous Christmas stories of all!
My guarantee: On ALL of my reviews there are NO spoilers unless I give you warning.
The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017):
"I will finish on time."
The famous writer Charles Dickens needs money and has to write a story in six weeks. He wants it to be meaningful and represent Christmas, but he isn't sure how. After hearing a story that a young nurse tells his children about fairies and spirits coming alive on Christmas Eve, he gets an idea. He struggles with getting it exactly as he wants it with illustrations and everything and on top of that his father comes to stay. Charles is battling his own past while he is trying to answer the question of, how does this story end?
"Christmas should be a time when men and women open up their hearts." (paraphrase)
Length: approx. 105 minutes.
Costumes: 8, there are some interesting costumes that fit the time period, but nothing extravagant.
Costumes by: Leonie Prendergast.
Script: 9, only one bad word.
"Nonsense, you just like a good cry."
Crew:
Directed by: Bharat Nalluri.
Written by: Les Standiford, & Susan Coyne.
Starring:
Dan Stevens as Charles Dickens.
Justin Edwards as John Forster & the Ghost of Christmas Present.
Ely Solan as Young Charles.
Jasper Hughes-Cotter as Walter Dickens.
James Heffernan as Charley Dickens.
Aleah Lennon as Mamie Dickens.
Ella Mai Delaney as Katey Dickens.
Katie McGuinness as Fanny Dickens & Mrs. Cratchit.
Marcus Lamb as Rev. Henry Burnett & Bob Cratchit.
Pearse Kearney as Henry Jr. & Tiny Tim.
John Henshaw as Butcher & Mr. Fezziwig.
Annette Badland as Butcher's Wife & Mrs. Fezziwig.
Pat Mooney as Garrick Club Waiter.
Ger Ryan as Mrs. Dickens.
Donald Sumpter as Haddock & Ghost of Marley.
Simon Callow as Leech.
Aideen Wylde as Charlotte Wigmore.
Adam Dolan as Warren's Factory Boy.
Amelia Crowley as Mrs. Grimsby.
Bill Paterson as Mr. Grimsby.
Cinematography by: Ben Smithard.
Music: 7, I can't recall what it was.
Music by: Mychael Danna.
Notes: This movie is based on the writing process of Charles Dickens's famous work, A Christmas Carol. Because of this, there are a lot of spoilers for A Christmas Carol, so if you haven't read that or seen a movie version of it, you'll want to wait to see this movie until after you have done that.
Content: 9, there is only some mild drinking, and that's it!
Originality: 7, I love how they showed the writing process and as a writer myself (well, sort of one) there were a lot of things that I have done! You definitely look for inspiration everywhere, your characters follow you around, and you hate it when people disturb you! Though, it is not the first story that I have experienced like this. I have read a fictional book before about how Charles Dickens came up with the story.
Age Range: It is perfectly clean and fine for any age, but as I said, only watch this after reading or watching A Christmas Carol!
Overall Score: 8!
"I say a lot of things that are nonsense when I'm working."
I was looking forward to watching this ever since I had heard that it was coming out! I knew that Dan Stevens would be a fabulous Charles Dickens. My younger sister saw it in April of last year and I couldn't believe it because I kept telling her that you can only watch Christmas movies in December and January! Oh well.
The title implies that Charles Dickens made up Christmas, though in the movie it never claims that and as a Catholic I know the real story of Christmas, but this movie shows the creation of one of the best Christmas books ever written. A Christmas Carol shows the joy we need to have during Christmas, and always! There were a few random things that I would have liked to have been tied in better, but overall this is a very sweet movie, and I look forward to watching it again.
I was looking forward to watching this ever since I had heard that it was coming out! I knew that Dan Stevens would be a fabulous Charles Dickens. My younger sister saw it in April of last year and I couldn't believe it because I kept telling her that you can only watch Christmas movies in December and January! Oh well.
The title implies that Charles Dickens made up Christmas, though in the movie it never claims that and as a Catholic I know the real story of Christmas, but this movie shows the creation of one of the best Christmas books ever written. A Christmas Carol shows the joy we need to have during Christmas, and always! There were a few random things that I would have liked to have been tied in better, but overall this is a very sweet movie, and I look forward to watching it again.
Sorry, I meant to have this post up yesterday, but at the time when I usually write my posts I realized that it was Jane Austen's birthday so of course I had to watch one of the movies based on her books.
Have any of you seen this movie? Do you love A Christmas Carol as much as I do? Thanks for reading!
MovieCritic
I FREAKING LOVED THIS MOVIE. <3 <3 <3
ReplyDeleteIT WAS SO GOOD!! <3
DeleteGreat review!! I too loved this movie. Didn't know to watch it at fist since it had a dark cover and I thought, yeah yeah, I know who really invented Christmas. ;P. But then since it was on amazon prime, we gave it a go and my whole family loved it!! We can not wait to watch it again this year!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sarah! Haha, yeah, I know exactly how you feel, that was the same way with me! ;) That's awesome that all of your family enjoyed it! Only my sisters and I have seen it, but I'm looking forward to showing it to my parents sometime. :)
DeleteI love A Christmas Carol. I was actually in a play of it (I was Christmas Past, Bob Cratchit's wife and Party Guest #2). I also love this movie. It's so underrated. My sister actually did a really funny impression of Charles Dickens when he was picking out Scrooge's name. Great review!
ReplyDeleteIt is such a classic! I need to reread it. Wow! Being the Ghost of Christmas Past sounds like a ton of fun! I can definitely imagine that, because Dan Stevens has such great facial expressions to copy! Thanks, McKayla!
DeleteYes, definitely! It was! I was like, ''Oh my gosh, this is actually a really big part.'' I had a lot of fun.
DeleteYeah, he does. I think I actually have a video of it on my phone.
No problem.
Now you have such a fun memory which is awesome!
DeleteThat's nice that you caught it on camera! It seems like whenever I do an awesome impression, I can't repeat it to film it! Oh well. I hope that you have a Merry Christmas!
Ugh. I love this movie! I just watched it for the second time the other day, and I had nearly forgotten how good it is. :)
ReplyDeleteI remember you telling me a long time ago that you had watched it and that you thought I would like it, and it took me this long to finally see it! So good! :)
DeleteTwo awesome things. A) This is a great review! <3
ReplyDeleteB) I LOVE THIS MOVIE. I relate to it on so many levels as a writer XDDD. I'm looking forward to seeing it again this year too. :P
Aw, thank you so much, Danielle! <3
DeleteYES. It follows the whole process of writing so perfectly! I still can't believe how relatable it is. XD I'm looking forward to seeing the gifs on your blog... ;)
Ooooh I love this movie so very much! I mean, I've only seen it once, but I'm a big Christmas Carol fan and the WRITER RELATABILITY, yes. :D Can't wait to watch it again this year!
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised to see how many bloggers have seen this! A Christmas Carol is so beautiful, so this was a fun "behind the scenes" look at it. SO ACCURATE TO WRITING. :D
DeleteThat's one of my favorite Christmas movies! - June
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty high on my list, too!
DeleteSounds really good!!
ReplyDeleteastorydetective.blogspot.com
It is! I think that you'd like it, Rakayle!
DeleteI loved this movie!
ReplyDeleteMe too! I'm glad that I watched it!
DeleteI just saw this movie for the first time this month, and it is going on my list of top 10 favorite new-to-me movies for the whole year. It's SO GOOD! (And, as a writer, so hilariously accurate.)
ReplyDeleteFun that you and I saw it almost at the same time! It was hilarious and relatable! The way of coming up names for characters and everything else is so true! (Oh yes, I'm looking forward to your list!)
DeleteOne of my favorites! It's so good!
ReplyDeleteEverything about it was brilliant! <3
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