X
- 2017
- PG
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 44 m
- 2017
- PG
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 44 m
Summary The Man Who Invented Christmas tells of the magical journey that led to the creation of Ebenezer Scrooge (Christopher Plummer), Tiny Tim and other classic characters from A Christmas Carol. The film shows how Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens) mixed real life inspirations with his vivid imagination to conjure up unforgettable characters and a...
Directed By: Bharat Nalluri
Written By: Susan Coyne, Les Standiford, Charles Dickens
- 2017
- PG
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 44 m
- 2017
- PG
- Bleecker Street Media
- 1 h 44 m
The Man Who Invented Christmas
60
6.5
Where to Watch
Summary The Man Who Invented Christmas tells of the magical journey that led to the creation of Ebenezer Scrooge (Christopher Plummer), Tiny Tim and other classic characters from A Christmas Carol. The film shows how Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens) mixed real life inspirations with his vivid imagination to conjure up unforgettable characters and a...
Directed By: Bharat Nalluri
Written By: Susan Coyne, Les Standiford, Charles Dickens
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 32 Critic Reviews
60
63% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
34% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 32 Critic Reviews
60
63% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
34% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Dan Stevens turns in a vibrant comic performance as Charles Dickens in this drama about writerly inspiration that plays like a smarter Shakespeare in Love.
As the man who would inspire the character of Scrooge — first spied at night in a cemetery attending a threadbare burial for his business partner, while uttering, “Bah, humbug!” — Christopher Plummer is well chosen.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 41 User Ratings
6.5
59% Positive
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
27% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
15% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 41 User Ratings
6.5
59% Positive
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
27% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
15% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
This movie gives exactly what the trailer promised and it's simply great festive fare. It's December and I wanted a festive family film (for more grown up kids) that wasn't Marvel, DC or full of violence. We all know the story, but this injects a pleasantly fresh spin and Dan Stevens and Christopher Plummer are simply great leads. It seems to me that some reviewers feel that the people who pay to watch a festive movie in December, or go about with "Merry Christmas" on their lips should be boiled in their own plum pudding and buried with a stake of holly through their hearts. Bah, humbug to the Scrooge-like reviewers and merry, merry Christmas to one and all ... of the people who watch this movie and spread some festive cheer!
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Sumptuous production values lift this vibrant telling of Mr **** life and work well above the average. Art direction, sets, lighting and slick CGI combine to take us back to those grim days of 1840s England. Christopher Plumber’s Scrooge is almost frighteningly lifted from the pages of this iconic book and analysed – but for me, Dan Steven’s **** was at times a little over the top (but maybe Charles might have been this scatty, along the lines of Mozart?) Having the books characters interact with their creator injects some amazing depth into many scenes –it also allows us to look into Charles’s rather tortured childhood. Good script, direction and music keep this, at times, overly chaotic movie pretty much on track. It would also quite certainly seem that Mr **** classic book was responsible for bringing the Christmas spirit back firmly into British life, and indeed the world - contributions to charity increased (a good thing to achieve indeed!) and Christmas Cards were introduced (although in certain respects, this is perhaps more in line with the commercialisation of Christmas –not so good) – but, not so sure about the title - may be the film could have had a more imaginative name...?
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“What my more curmudgeonly colleague misses,” said the ghost with a smile, “is this film’s potential for great camp enjoyment, especially thanks to its bevy of perfectly fine performances."
It’s “A Christmas Carol” riff for those who already know the story, and entirely too on-the-nose for its own good.
It lays on the pathos, moralizing and forced whimsy thicker than figgy pudding, but it’s still entertaining, heart-warming family fare, thanks in large part to charmingly sincere performances.
A saccharine stab at a new holiday perennial that tries to fuse the classic Yuletide yarn with a “Shakespeare In Love”-style literary origin story and manages to let both of them down, not to mention a performance by Christopher Plummer as Ebenezer Scrooge that deserves a much better showcase than the one provided here.
Since “humbug” is already spoken for by Ebenezer Scrooge, “opportunistic” would be the most apt word for The Man Who Invented Christmas.
This was a really great movie. Sure, you know exactly how it's going to end, and it's mostly just a footnote in what is the most well known Christmas tale, but it's nice, warm, and everything a Christmas tale really should be.
Sure, there wasn't much drama to be had and the conflict was minimal, but it was still fun to watch the story of how **** came up with A Christmas Carol, and it was also fun to try to spot the little references here and there that were "used" to create the final story. Overall, I very much enjoyed this movie and would highly recommend it to anyone else that wanted a light, but fun Christmas film, and a good way to check Christmas Carol off the list without having to actually watch that specific story again.
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After the rousing success of "Oliver Twist" author Charles **** (Dan Stevens) had 3 flops before ramming headlong into writer's block. With mounting financial pressure and creative anxiety, he hatches the idea for "A Christmas Carol." As everyday events and people spur his imagination, his manic pursuit of the situations and characters plays out. This process starts as a lighthearted literary adventure and ends with mildly moving sentimentality. It's the middle section that drags a bit with dramatic emotional side trips. Still, Stevens is charming and the production mostly romps along with a cheery approach. This may not become a new holiday tradition, but it's certainly an entertaining look at the genesis of a Christmas classic.
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This movie felt like a misfire of what it was supposed to be. It missed it's audience totally by having an identity crisis. It's to serious for kids and to funny for adults. An unrealistic experience for Charles ****, and how he invented his characters. And this is not an adventures movie which makes it boring and dragging with it's entertainment massively. The characters where un-interesting and not creating immersion. You just won't care about most of the characters because there is no value in how they where acted, written and delivered. The director's style is just the casual stuff and nothing out of the special. There is also a serious pacing issue of the main events not unfolding until one third of the movie. The plot is not complex at all and by being chore like as well makes it a hard watch. The humor is totally lacking and there where no actual jokes in the whole movie, which gives the impression of this movie taking it's self to seriously given the fact that it is a magical movie. Or rather it was supposed to be. The complete absence of music in certain scenes is also experience breaking. Overall sadly this movie is a below average, and I honestly can't see any reason to watch this movie at any time of the year. The conclusion is cheesy, and in the end the movie is just not interesting, entertaining or fun to watch.
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An uninteresting attempt at a biopic for a very interesting man. **** was a notorious Theosophist who ran in elite circles and dabbled in the occult (facts that very well may have played a part in his developing A Christmas Carol), but this film doesn't utilize any of these fascinating truths to weave its tale. Instead, it strings us along with the paper-thin narrative that every aspect of A Christmas Carol was inspired by actual occurrences in his life. As a writer of magical realism myself, I can tell you that writers' works are seldom overwhelmingly inspired by reality. When I say this movie acted like A Christmas Carol was inspired by actual occurrences in his life, I mean it acts like EVERYTHING in A Christmas Carol was. It even goes so far as to try to convince us that he was schizophrenic and would literally have conversations with his characters. What really boggled my mind with the writing of this script is that **** tells the publisher that A Christmas Carol will be a comedy, and then, he proceeds to get writer's block at the death of Tiny Tim in the Ghost of Christmas Future's vision. 99% of writers know the ending from the beginning. If he told the publisher that it was a comedy, chances are he would have figured out some version of a happy ending early on. The fact is, you can tell where the movie's going 30 minutes in. It begins to hit all the beats. **** becomes dear friends with his maid for the first two thirds of the film, then lashes out at her when she interrupts his writing (which she's done a thousand times before, by the way) in the third act just to add drama. It's cheap writing, and maybe if I was 9 and under, this movie would warm the **** of my heart. But as a writer and fan of history, when it comes to a movie about Charles **** (or any writer, for that matter) I think the producers owe us not only a well-written film, but at least the semblance of an attempt at historical accuracy.
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I wrote a review of The Man Who Invented Christmas for Vocal.Media. The Man Who Invented Christmas is a remarkably dull movie. Regardless of the good intentions and the good ideas at the heart of the film, the story and specifically the character of Charles ****, never get going. The story about how Charles **** came to write A Christmas Carol likely wasn’t all that dramatic; most writing isn’t particularly dramatic, in and of itself. But where The Man Who Invented Christmas fails is in finding some aspect of **** that was interestingly dramatic while he wrote his masterpiece. Instead, we have an almost insufferable lead character on a predictable journey toward a well-known outcome. ****
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Production Company
The Mazur Kaplan Company,
The Mob Film Company,
Ingenious Media,
Nelly Films,
Parallel Films,
Rhombus Media
Release Date Nov 22, 2017
Duration 1 h 44 m
Rating PG
Tagline How Charles Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol" and created a tradition.
Awards
MovieGuide Awards
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
Canadian Screen Awards, CA
• 3 Nominations
Heartland Film
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
