David Copperfield

David Copperfield
by Simon Curtis

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DVD Reviews of David Copperfield

DVD Review: Mislead?
Summary: 3 Stars

Anyhow, after this treasured experience, we both wanted to see the A&E version. But try as I might, I couldn't find it released on DVD or VHS. So I turned to the altenatives. I read the reviews for this BBC version right here on Amazon, and I must say I was impressed. Almost every review was a good one, and much was said about how close this was to the book. The people who had seen this and the A&E version even told me this was much superior.

So I happily plunked down the money for this movie. We invited our friend Ian who had recently pleasured himself by reading the book. We watched. By the time it was over I was wishing that I hadn't read all those reviews. False hope and all that dashed nonsense. I also wished that I had seen this before reading the book. (I know that by saying this I am totally contradicting my review of Austen's book "Northanger Abbey", but in this case I was wrong.) Not that it is a bad movie, but like my wife said, "It was just a skeleton of the book".

So I shall give a list of the things I didn't like, followed by those that I did.

1. The movie just whizzed by from scene to scene, as if they were in a hury to get to the end. Three hours is three hours, but a good director, coupled with nice editing can make a movie feel smoother and seem longer, without giving you that ancy feeling you could be doing something else.
2. There were quite a few well written characters missing, or just having brief cameos. Some of the missing who were in my mind vital to the story: Traddle, Dora' two birdlike aunts, and Doctor and Mrs. Strong. Not so important, but still missed by me: The Old Soldier (Mrs. Markleham), Mr Omer, Mr. Joram, And the unforgetable Miss Mowcher.
3. The scene where everyone confronts Uriah Heep is way to short. It felt like it took all of about a minute, where as in the book it took up almost an entire chapter, fiiled with rich speech from all the characters, most notably Micawber, who couldn't say the name Heep without going almost into a fit of rage, while here he says Heep that way maybe twice, then mellowing out his tone for the rest of the scene.
4. I don't like how they split the DVD like you are watching it on PBS by having the credits halfway through, then you get to watch a preview of what you are going to watch in a few minutes, and then a rehash of what you just watched. Maddening!

Good points.

1. While there was a lot left out, they didn't deviate from the storyline hardly at all.
2. Seeing David's aunt tearing into the Murdstones was almost perfect.
3. Mr. Dick was just how I imagined him, especially in the kite flying scene with him twirling his cane in the air with his childish excitement. Seeing David's smile during this scene was very nice to.
4. Most notable performances: the young David (an awesome career lies ahead of this boy), Peggotty, Mr. Peggotty, Ham (especially when talking of his love for Emily), Mr. Micawber (while not how I imagined him, was still excellently done), Mrs. Micawber, Miss Trotwood, Uriah Heep (definatly portraying sinister), and Rosa Darttle.

I would recomend this movie to a few select groups. If you are curious and have read the book, then I would say, try to rent or borrow this before purchasing. Who knows you might like it. Or if you are a collector of great literary books brought to life, and finally, if you have never read the book, then try watching this and see if you want to read it then.

I would not recomend letting children view this until you yourself have screened it and decided its ok, because there are some scenes that could be very disturbing to youngters, and the first half of the movie has a dark feel about it as well.

My only hope is that someday soon, someone will put up the money for a proper mini-series to be done. Something in the range of six to ten hours would be nice. And it can be done. Just look at Pride & Prejudice, coming in at five hours long, with the book being a little over 300 pages, while Copperfield rests at a nice long 850 pages.

And so I wait....

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