The Man Who Invented Christmas

"Dickens’ classic tale A Christmas Carol has been riffed on numerous times - there’s a 1901 silent movie; versions featuring Mickey Mouse, The Muppets, and Bill Murray; and a 3D CGI Jim Carrey rendition of miserable miser Scrooge. Here we have Dan Stevens as Charles Dickens, juggling family with the solitary life of the writer. It’s 1843, Dickens is a 31-year-old celebrity, but after three misfires, he’s an author in dire need of a public hit. Enter Scrooge (Christopher Plummer) and a variety of quirky characters, conjured from the author’s imagination and haranguing their creator as he writes them to life."

"[Reveals] the equivalently satisfying story of how the English author conceived his beloved yuletide novella - while offering a chance for a splendidly cast Christopher Plummer to play Ebenezer Scrooge in the process."

"It pushes its hero off his pedestal but delivers him - like Tom Hulce's Mozart in Amadeus - to a much better place, the earthy company of fellow citizens who dream of being inspired."

"Brightly lit and anchored by Mr. Stevens's infectious, live-wire performance, the film ... proceeds like a television holiday special, designed to distract children while winking at their parents."

"At its heart it's a romp with no pretensions to be anything else."

"The best of all the Christmas movies coming out on the dot of December, The Man Who Invented Christmas is the tale of Charles Dickens coming up with his classic story A Christmas Carol."

"Nalluri’s film captures in equal measure the charm and the schlocky sentiment of Dickens’s work."

""The Man Who Invented Christmas" is a jaunty, amusing patchwork of truths, half-truths and pure fiction that cleverly combine to recount the story of the whirlwind creation of Charles Dickens' famed novella "A Christmas Carol.""

"[Offers] enough enjoyable Masterpiece Theater-style moments to entice Anglophiles and those who can never get enough of Ebenezer Scrooge."

"This richly-detailed British costume drama takes a slice of Dickens’ life and weaves it in with the creation of one of his most successful books."