The Personal History of David Copperfield review: A wonderful retort to Hollywood’s obsessive whitewashing of history

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Iannucci and his co-writer Simon Blackwell have skirted gently around the novel’s darker passages, even doing away completely with one character’s notable and tragic fate. It’s a whistlestop tour of Dickens’ 600-plus page book, making it the rare two-hour film that still feels breathless and compact. The Personal History is instead shaped by the various allies and oddballs David meets, each thrillingly brought to screen by the film’s cast: Tilda Swinton is a farcical delight as the flighty Betsey Trotwood; Ben Whishaw plays the manipulative Uriah Heep as a gremlin in a bowl cut; Benedict Wong is the right mix of gruff and sympathetic as the alcoholic Mr Wickfield, and Hugh Laurie adds shades of Bertie Wooster to the childish Mr Dick. The Personal History of David Copperfield makes the image of a man sitting down at his writing desk feel like a triumph for the ages.