The Personal History of David Copperfield  ★★★½

SOME films just put a smile on your face.

The Personal History of David Copperfield is one of those, full of quirky characters, clever humour, nice visuals, a colourful palette and a pace that never lags.

Apparently it’s the first theatrically-released adaptation of Charles Dicken’s novel in half a century, as opposed to the regular new versions based on the likes of works by Jane Austen.

This has been directed and co-written by Armando Iannucci, the Scot responsible for 2017’s wonderful The Death of Stalin, the biting satire In the Loop (2009) and television series Veep and The Thick of It.

While I have read the original novel it was a long time ago so I’m not entirely sure of the extent to which Iannucci and his regular writing partner Simon Blackwell have modernised the dialogue, but the result on screen is fresh, vibrant and very easy to follow.

The film follows David from before his birth to adulthood with the adult acting as our on-screen guide and narrator through some of the key events in his difficult formative years.

David’s early childhood is largely uneventful but happy, including a life-affirming holiday in a beach house in Yarmouth with his nanny’s family.

But he returns to find his widowed mother Clara has married the cruel Mr Murdstone who beats him and eventually sends him to labour at a bottle factory in lodgings supplied by a dodgy family always trying to stay one step ahead of a band of creditors.

David eventually ends up at the home of a wealthy aunt and her eccentric lodger where he finds solace until another evil character comes along to threaten their future.

Dickens’ story has been treated in a variety of ways and can certainly be portrayed with success using a strong vein of drama. But Iannucci prefers to concentrate on the eccentricity of the characters and whimsy in the words and adds to this by constantly filling the screen with colour and movement, particularly during some of the inventive and surprising scene transitions.

Above all, though, the success of such a treatment is heavily reliant on the performances and boy how good they are.

In the central role as David, Dev Patel again demonstrates how he can play any character in any form while the host of terrific support includes Peter Capaldi as the dodgy Mr Micawber, Tilda Swinton as wealthy aunt Betsey Trotwood, Hugh Laurie as the wonderfully eccentric Mr. Dick, Benedict Wong as always tipsy Mr Wickfield and Ben Wishaw as the creepy Uriah Heep.

Iannucci and his great players have made a 170 year-old story fresh and vital, providing perfect escapism for these troubled times.