The Personal History of David Copperfield

2019 119 min ★ 6.4 Comedy

A fresh and distinctive take on Charles Dickens’ semi-autobiographical masterpiece, The Personal History of David Copperfield, set in the 1840s, chronicles the life of its iconic title character as he navigates a chaotic world to find his elusive place within it. From his unhappy childhood to the discovery of his gift as a storyteller and writer, David’s journey is by turns hilarious and tragic, but always full of life, colour and humanity.

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Cast

Dev Patel

David Copperfield

Peter Capaldi

Mr. Micawber

Ben Whishaw

Uriah Heep

Tilda Swinton

Betsey Trotwood

Gwendoline Christie

Jane Murdstone

Hugh Laurie

Mr. Dick

Anthony Welsh

Ham

Aneurin Barnard

Steerforth

Divian Ladwa

Dr. Chillip

Rosalind Eleazar

Agnes

Details

Director

Armando Iannucci

Screenplay

Simon Blackwell

Tagline

"From rags to riches... and back again."

Status

Released

Original Language

EN

Budget

$15,600,000

Revenue

$11,620,337

Production

FilmNation Entertainment, Film4 Productions, Wishmore

Reviews

M

Manuel São Bento

June 14, 2020

★ 8/10

If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free reviews, please follow my blog @ https://www.msbreviews.com Based on Charles Dickens' novel, The Personal History of David Copperfield is the first Armando Ianucci's film I ever watched. I didn't really know much about this movie besides its stellar cast. I'm not the biggest fan of biographical works. Usually, I find them too constricted to the genre's form...

S

SWITCH.

July 22, 2020

★ 8/10

This has really been a banner year for the period film. We've had Gerwig's spectacular 'Little Women', Autumn de Wilde's wondrous adaptation of 'Emma.', and on television, the bombastic imagination of 'The Great'. Armando Iannucci's 'The Personal History of David Copperfield', even with its flaws, sits beautifully beside them. This film left me giddy with joy, my eyes filled with tears, leaping fr...

C

CinemaSerf

March 28, 2022

★ 5/10

I'm not Armando Iannucci's biggest fan so saw this at the Opening Gala of the London Film Festival with some trepidation. Unfortunately, I wasn't pleasantly surprised. Dev Patel does bring some charm to the proceedings, but the attempts at comedy in this retelling of Dickens' classic just don't work for me at all. Ben Whishaw and Tilda Swinton appear to be fish out of water and whilst it is good t...

C

CinemaSerf

May 30, 2024

★ 5/10

I'm not Armando Iannucci's biggest fan so saw this at the Opening Gala of the London Film Festival with some trepidation. Unfortunately, I wasn't pleasantly surprised. Dev Patel does bring some charm to the proceedings, but the attempts at comedy in this retelling of Dickens' classic just don't work for me at all. Ben Whishaw and Tilda Swinton appear to be fish out of water and whilst it is good t...