The Avon Cinema reopens with The Personal History of David Copperfield, starring Dev Patel, Hugh Laurie, Peter Capaldi, and Tilda Swinton. Peter Travers writes at Rolling Stone:
The trick to crafting a don’t-miss film out of Charles Dickens’ 1850 novel David Copperfield is to get someone who isn’t afraid to be irreverent in the director’s chair. And, presto, here’s Armando Iannucci, the political satirist behind the profanity-filled delights of Veep, In the Loop and The Death of Stalin, cutting this literary doorstop into pieces. It proves Iannucci’s theory that the Victorian-era author had a comic side, with a twist of Monty Python-level absurdity.
You had me at Iannucci. Everyone should have Veep, In the Loop, and The Death of Stalin under their belts by now — you’ve had since March. And I’m Alan Partridge! And the underwatched Avenue 5! With minor qualifications (the romantic angles) Travers loves the cast and the movie.
. . . it’s in watching David start to become the “hero of his own life” that gives this irresistible romp its indelible spirit. This teeming film sometimes bursts at the seams, but it’s abound with an exuberant energy that honors Dickens without embalming him in the literary past. It’s irresistible.
Rated PG. Running time: 119 minutes. (I can find no mention of Covid protocols, but I will assume they are doing what everyone else is doing. You figure out what you are comfortable with.)
David Copperfield, GA $11, daily 3:15pm and 6:20pm, August 28 through September 10, Avon Cinema, 260 Thayer Street, (directions)