Tagline: The Spirits will move you in odd and hysterical ways.
Starring: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, John Glover, Bobcat Goldthwait, David Johansen
Plot: Based of the famous Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol”. A greedy TV network president Frank Cross is a mean spirited cynical man. Who is visited by three ghosts that show him his past present and future based on the choices he has made in his past.
My Take: Scrooged is one of those renditions of a Christmas Carole that most certainly stands out. It does the story in its own way. It seems that every version of this beloved classic even the new versions seem exactly the same (even the creative minds at Disney couldn’t change it up). I get it why change a masterpiece…the same reason you would remix or sample a song…put a fresh spin on things. Unlike the 100 different versions of it, where it takes place in the 1800s…and is spoken in old English, they decided to go with the more modern setting change the character names and decided to make it a comedy instead of more serious look at the spirit(s) of Christmas. I mean the theme is the same…but it was good to see something fresh.
As a comedy it fires on all cylinders. Bill Murray always plays the perfect jerk, hell he sends bath towels to those in his life for Christmas presents even his own brother. Cynical, mean, and uncaring yet you still love him and its that kind of character acting Bill Murray can do that makes this work so well. Every scene has a comedic moment that you will laugh at; even the moments that should be serious and moving leave you laughing (just see the ghost of Christmas past bit). You feel like you’re not watching A Christmas Carole but another Bill Murray classic. And that’s the magic of this movie. Like the Holiday its based around it has the magic and laughter that moves you to the Christmas spirit.
As explained above the story follows A Christmas Carole and we all know that story so I won’t retell it. But the biggest difference to me was Tiny Tim. Instead of a crippled Caucasian boy with the trademark crutches, it was a young black boy that stopped talking since the passing of his father several years ago…and in my opinion was more deeply moving when at the end he whispered the famously infamous “god bless us…everyone”….yep I teared up. It felt like it was a Christmas miracle.
Best Reference: When Bill Murray says “feed me Seymore” an ode to Little Shop of Horrors in which he also starred in.
Fun Fact: Its fun to see in everyone of Bill Murrays movies his brothers always have cameos if not roles in his movies this one is no different.
The Spirit of the Holidays Described in One Line:
Frank Cross: It's Christmas Eve! It's... it's the one night of the year when we all act a little nicer, we... we... we smile a little easier, we... w-w-we... we... we cheer a little more. For a couple of hours out of the whole year, we are the people that we always hoped we would be!
Final Thought: I know I didn’t reference moments in the movie like I do in my other reviews, and that’s because a movie like this you need to see for yourself and experience it first hand. It’s a Christmas classic that you will watch over and over and make it part of your holiday tradition, just like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and A Christmas Story. It has the magic of the holidays and the laugh a second comedy rolled into one…It’s a movie if you haven’t seen it…then you should.
I give it 5 Cherry Cheese Danishes
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