Disappointment for a huge fan!

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This showed up after I fell asleep watching a rerun of CSI. I had already consulted the EPG to see that it was all about the guy who invented Christmas. Oh crap. Not another one of those Hallmark whodunit turds about some mid-40s lady who sells Poinsettias in an Ontario town tricked up to look like Someplace USA, solving murders that are hardly likely.No.The movie begins right away, no opening title, no list of actors. I had already shut down the computer, it was cold as hell and I could see my breath in the glow of the screen. And, it was THAT GUY! Gee, I know that guy, that's Dan Stevens who I liked in Downton Abbey, who already did some other crappy Night at the Museum sequel, but I like him. His portrayal of Dickens as a manic, driven author, swamped by piling debts, a household of distractions, a family screaming in utter enjoyment, and besieged by his parents, particularly his father who is beleaguered by petty debts -- is inspired, reminiscent of Rupert Everett in "An Ideal Husband".Dickens' father seems a robust character played by (to my great surprise) one of my favourite actors, Jonathan Pryce. But, as Master Thespian would say in SNL skits: it was ACTING! So, there was none of the "Don't Cry for Me" or "I'm a stickler for paperwork" that we have seen in his work. Pryce is hidden behind a beard playing this lovable old soul.Dickens gets started on his project while we are tickled with obvious clues and visuals suggesting the story is starting to congeal. He struggles with his protagonist's name: Scrunger, Scrimpole, Scumper. I uselessly suggest to no-one in particular what it is, until Dickens finally utters it: SCROOGE.And then I hear the unmistakable voice: Plummer appears, backlit, face in shadow, voice wavering a little with age, but strong in defense of his character's miserly ways.This is a movie with great fun, enjoyable scenes, spinning a tale about an eternal tale we have seen a hundred times in a dozen incarnations, whether Alastair Sim, Mr Magoo or Bill Murray: we know the story. And with this film, we know the story behind making this classic. You'll enjoy it.

Charles Dickens' last 3 books have been flops. He is in debt, not helped by the arrival of his horrifically impecunious father. As he tries to bring to life his idea for a Christmas ghost story, real life and the story begin to interact, especially once he has nailed down Scrooge (who is keen to add his own opinions.This riff on Dickens' classic Christmas story is great fun. For maximum impact it assumes you have a reasonable knowledge of A Christmas Carol, but you're not that likely to be watching this unless you have read the book and/or watched one or more of the myriad screen adaptations.The period detail is good: the film looks lovely and is particularly well lit. The script is interesting and amusing and draws interesting parallels between Dickens' real world, and his tale. The cast is solid: Dan Stevens is a likeable, if flawed, Dickens.I very much liked the subtext of characters who don't always do what the author wants them to. I suspect that many people who have had a bash at writing fiction found this to be so!And having seen Christopher Plummer in this, I now want to see him plays Scrooge in a proper adaptation of the book.This quirky little film has a great deal of charm and heart.

While this film reserves its roles for women in a typical fashion - the supporting wife, the supporting maid, the loving mother - the way they portray Charles Dicken's writing mannerisms is wonderful. Also the set pieces are extremely delightful, and the way the story unfolds is pretty original. You get to see the behind the scenes of a story which seems so engrained in Christmas culture, that makes you forget that Christmas wasn't always the holiday that it is today.

I am afraid that Dan Stevens will be immortal; as the unfortunate Mr Crawley. His pouting skills are exemplary in this little piece of confectioner's nonsense as he gave us an unfortunately over excited version of Charles Dickens, but all else fails. Despite the beautifully constructed and photographed sets we were asked to suspend all belief in a real world and accept that Dickens was motivated by cartoon characters of his imagination. Old stagers Plummer and Pryce acted him off the set in this christmas twinkle.