"Marley was dead, to begin with, there is no doubt whatever about that." In December of 1843, struggling author Charles Dickens began his yuletide classic A Christmas Carol with this line. Known for his humor as much as his thought-provoking genius, Dickens spent the next paragraph comparing Marley's death to that of a door nail, then questioning whether that was an appropriate object and perhaps a coffin nail would have been more accurate. After three failed novels, Dickens struck gold with this timeless tale that has become as synonymous with Christmas as trees, lights, wise men, snowmen and Santa. The much-needed success of A Christmas Carol resurrected Dickens' career, not unlike the rebirth of Ebeneezer Scrooge after his night of ghostly visitors on Christmas Eve. The Man Who Invented Christmas tells the story of Dickens' inspiration for his holiday masterpiece.
Dan Stevens takes on the role of Charles Dickens. Many probably won't recognize his name, but if you saw Disney's live action version of Beauty and the Beast, you are familiar with his work. Stevens was the Beast. Most of the rest of his resume involves roles in TV series like High Maintenance, Legion and SuperMansion. Exactly. But Stevens has some heavy-hitting film legends to keep him company. Johnathan Pryce plays John Dickens, Charles' father. And Christopher Plummer plays Ebenezer Scrooge. The rest of the cast, however, is anything but a who's who of Hollywood.
The Man Who Invented Christmas is directed by Bharat Nalluri. Born in India, Nalluri's resume is very similar to Stevens, filled with TV series and his biggest project before this was Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.
After three failed novels, Dickens and his family are broke with bills piling up they cannot pay. In two months, he must write and publish the book of his career, a Christmas story, to save his family. Dickens has severe writer's block and matters are not made any better with his estranged parents moving in, drudging up painful memories of a less-than-pleasant childhood, the result of his father's financial irresponsibility. Characters for his story begin to appear in his imagination and the pen begins to flow bringing the characters to life. But they take on a life of their own and don't cooperate with their creator, the Author.
The Man Who Invented Christmas looks like it could potentially be a new underground Christmas classic. A Christmas Carol has been made and re-imagined several times. George C. Scott played Bob Cratchit in 1984. In 1988, Bill Murray played Xavier Cross in a twist on the classed of Scrooged. In 1992, the role was undertaken by Kermit the Frog in The Muppet Christmas Carol. 2009 marked a fantastic animation put out by Disney with Jim Carrey in the lead role. I, myself, played the narrator in a radio production of A Christmas Carol in High School in the early 1990's. I say this could be an underground classic because this might take a couple years to really take hold and be shown every year on TV during the holidays. It might never make anyone's top 10 list of Christmas favorites, but could grow to be a top 20 contender.
Dan Stevens looks like he delivers a humorous, genuine, heart-felt and energetic performance as Charles Dickens and The Man Who Invented Christmas is a Christmas story that has never been told before, though it is based on the story that has been told nearly as many times as the birth of Jesus in the manger. I'm a huge fan of all things Christmas and I think this will be thoroughly enjoyable, new and something I'll want to own. So I'm giving The Man Who Invented Christmas a 4 Star Prediction. Am I right? We shall see.
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