This is a likeable film, with some comic touches handled with Armando Iannucci's characteristic skill. Dev Patel plays David with his customary charm, and it's not all played for laughs.
It brings out the themes of family life, financial insecurity, friendship and deception, and - especially - child abuse, which David suffers shockingly at the hands of the Murdstones (Darren Boyd and Gwendoline Christie) and in factory labour.
Its period details are vivid, especially in bustling City of London scenes (even if the lighting makes Victorian England look too sunny). The character of James Steerforth (Aneurin Barnard) develops subtly, from something like an upper-class twit to a nasty piece of work. It was a clever idea to have the same actress (Morfydd Clark) playing David's mother Clara and first wife Dora. In one scene there's a nice, and pointed, touch of topical relevance to "rough sleeping".
Ben Whishaw makes Uriah Heep look truly odious and brings out his sinister cunning, though I think Nicholas Lyndhurst was even better as Heep in the 1999 TV adaptation.
The film obviously takes some liberties with the novel. Heep and Steerforth know each other though I don't think they ever meet in the novel, some characters are missing, especially Tommy Traddles (a loyal friend of David and foil for Steerforth), perhaps Mr Dick (Hugh Laurie) is a bit too prominent, Agnes (Rosalind Eleazar) seems more "forward" than I remember in the novel and Micawber (Peter Capaldi) rather slyer. The intimate relationships between David and Dora and between Steerforth and "Little Emily" are shown but not developed. However, the climactic scene relating to the latter couple is extremely powerful and true to the novel.
There's some un-Victorian language when Betsey Trotwood, well played by Tilda Swinton, exclaims on her lawn "This is a donkey-free zone".
Dickens's novel really deserves a double film, like that of "Little Dorrit" by Christine Edzard (1987). This would do justice to the ways in which David learns from his varied experience. Maybe too expensive to make nowadays?
It brings out the themes of family life, financial insecurity, friendship and deception, and - especially - child abuse, which David suffers shockingly at the hands of the Murdstones (Darren Boyd and Gwendoline Christie) and in factory labour.
Its period details are vivid, especially in bustling City of London scenes (even if the lighting makes Victorian England look too sunny). The character of James Steerforth (Aneurin Barnard) develops subtly, from something like an upper-class twit to a nasty piece of work. It was a clever idea to have the same actress (Morfydd Clark) playing David's mother Clara and first wife Dora. In one scene there's a nice, and pointed, touch of topical relevance to "rough sleeping".
Ben Whishaw makes Uriah Heep look truly odious and brings out his sinister cunning, though I think Nicholas Lyndhurst was even better as Heep in the 1999 TV adaptation.
The film obviously takes some liberties with the novel. Heep and Steerforth know each other though I don't think they ever meet in the novel, some characters are missing, especially Tommy Traddles (a loyal friend of David and foil for Steerforth), perhaps Mr Dick (Hugh Laurie) is a bit too prominent, Agnes (Rosalind Eleazar) seems more "forward" than I remember in the novel and Micawber (Peter Capaldi) rather slyer. The intimate relationships between David and Dora and between Steerforth and "Little Emily" are shown but not developed. However, the climactic scene relating to the latter couple is extremely powerful and true to the novel.
There's some un-Victorian language when Betsey Trotwood, well played by Tilda Swinton, exclaims on her lawn "This is a donkey-free zone".
Dickens's novel really deserves a double film, like that of "Little Dorrit" by Christine Edzard (1987). This would do justice to the ways in which David learns from his varied experience. Maybe too expensive to make nowadays?