Review of The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017) by Garth A — 17 Dec 2017

The first book I remember reading voluntarily as a child of 8 or so was Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". It's a short book in spite of being a grand story. I read it in one sitting, cover to cover and was moved even though young. As a child, I'd previously seen the old black and white version with Alastair Sim, (which is still the best dramatic version, in my opinion). In 1974 as a freshman in college, I discovered the musical "Scrooge" with Albert Finney and renewed my passion for Dicken's tale. It's one of my favorite stories of all time.

So I was excited now in 2017 to see a new spin on such a classic and favorite story. I was not disappointed. This version is less about telling the story of Scrooge--though it is told in snippets sufficiently for those who already know the story--but rather this movie is about the selfishness and cruelty that exists in all humans which Charles Dickens finds a need to expose and purge, even within himself. As the Dickens of this movie discovers the story of Scrooge within his head, he gains insights which both compel him to tell THEIR story and exposes his own human weaknesses in the telling. And yet the story is not depressing or morose, but whimsical and charming. Humor is used in just the right amount to keep us buoyant as we watch this excellent story unfold.

Dickens, as revealed in this movie, serves as the surrogate for us all, who in writing this story, confronts his own inner struggles. This movie presumes to see inside his head and connects us with the very real suffering of debtors prisons, poverty, class distinction and the need for kindness which a cruel world often ignores, especially in 1840 in London. It is a story of our need for personal redemption, told twice--once via Scrooge, and again via Charles Dickens himself. Both men had their own demons in this version.

Dickens wrote and published "A Christmas Carol" in six weeks and under dire financial debt. He became virtually possessed with telling this story, which became his obsession to tell it right. The film reminds us that Christmas was barely a holiday at the time, and yet this one book forever created a renaissance of "Christmas" as a time of redemption without ever mentioning religion. A redemption that can be credited almost solely to Mr. Charles Dickens.

This movie tells a beautiful story in a beautiful way. Granted, who knows if all the struggles shown in this version of Dickens life match valid history, but it rings true enough to leave you feeling both introspective and hopeful for our own salvation. It's profoundly affecting as we see Dickens himself realize in finding these characters that we all have a Bob Cratchet and an Ebeneezer Scrooge within us. This revelation is as much a surprise to Dickens, as the author as it is to us. At one point Dickens complains to his burgeoning host of imaginary characters, come to life for his eyes only, "I AM the author here!" to which Scrooge (played expertly by Christopher Plummer) replies under his breath; "...Allegedly". In other words, the characters demand their own existence and Dickens more struggles to hear their voices, than to create them.

Find this film and see it. It is a gem. I only marked a half star off because I felt it could have been even more moving if a scene had been added which shows more clearly Dickens own final redemption. It is brought to the brink of that full revelation, but then steps back as if the story of the publication is the pinnacle of the story, to save his fortune and reputation as an author. I wish they'd added a scene which more clearly shows the debt of redemption that this version of Dickens owes to finding Scrooge, just as Scrooge owed his own redemption to Jacob Marley. That scene was missing which would have completed the story a little better. I grant it is inferred but will be missed by some who may leave the film thinking it's more a story of a great author publishing a great book. No--it's the story of the need for redemption for each of us, as we author our own life-stories.