This version was chopped around, especially the second half, and some events were fabricated. This was to try to make it a more streamlined David copperfield and it fit it into familiar narrative conventions with a clear baddie and clear love triangle and clear happy ending for people who are new to the novel and who aren't bothered about faithfulness to the source and who enjoy light entertainment. It is no surprise then that this was made by the Hallmark channel. I don't hAve anything against this per se, even though it's not what I prefer. However frankly it just isn't done very well. It waters down certain elements of the story but making them overly saccharine and hollywoodised. There are also no stand out performances and the casting wasn't all that memorable. There is nothing about this that hasn't been done better in other versions - notably the 1974 very faithful very Dickensian adaptation, and the 1999 abridged but faithful modern production. David copperfield is not Shakespeare, I don't know why we need this overly simple, overly romanticised, dumbed down version .
Review of David Copperfield
David Copperfield
(2000 TV Movie)
Diluted for the Hallmark channel. Not necessarily a bad thing but doesn't make anything better here, only worse.
12 November 2021