Scrooged

I remember watching “Scrooged” on TV when I was a kid. I liked it because I liked the original tale by Charles Dickens. Now that I am older, I am impressed by its modernization. Many other modernized versions of “A Christmas Carol” take place in a reality where the original Dickens novel doesn’t exist. Not only are there obvious references to the original tale in this movie but also the “Scrooge” (Frank Cross) is in charge of producing a live TV performance of “A Christmas Carol”. The filmmakers, who include director Richard Donner, are still able to create a fresh and sincere retelling of this classic Christmas story. The comedy is fun thanks to Bill Murray and others.

Amidst the obvious similarities to the original story, there are subtle ones as well like when Frank locks his door to keep Lew out. Another nice touch is the fact that Lew has been dead for 7 years. Just like Charles Dickens did with the original tale, we see the rich and poor of New York and they contrast each other very much. There is also a sense of believability that Donner is known to strive for. I believed his version of New York on the screen. There are also some modifications to the novel’s story for originality sake such as the fact that the “Bob Cratchit” character is female and the Tiny Tim character can’t talk. I like how Lew references the line “Mankind was my business.” You don’t really see it coming, even though Frank says how Lew was the best in the business. One mistake made story wise in this movie was that the character of Lew should have been mentioned before his appearance. Dickens’ first line in the book was to inform us that Marley was dead and so those writing “Scrooged” should have made mention to Lew before he shows up. Another little story problem I saw was that the character of Claire is established before the visions from the Ghost of Christmas Past. I don’t have a problem with the phone call made to her from Frank’s office after Lew is gone because that is important story wise. If Frank is going to get the girl in the end, the romantic interest must be a part of the whole movie. What I didn’t really like is that we see 1980’s Claire before we see Claire back in the late 60’s. I felt the movie would have been a little better if present day Claire was first introduced visually at the homeless shelter after Frank sees his past. This would have created drama for the audience in that we desire to know what present day Claire looks like and what she is doing. Having said that, I feel I am just being picky. Unlike Scrooge, Frank has a boss & a competing assistant and this creates concern that Frank could lose his job. We must dislike Frank’s character but at the same time, we need to like him and root for him in order to hope for his redemption and a happy ending.

Throughout Frank’s journey, he knows what the ghosts are trying to do because of the fact that the original tale exists in his world. It is also established that these ghosts do this every year to souls who need to change such as Attila the Hun. I like the comedy but also drama that comes from those story moments. The movie has sincere drama even though the story is cliché. Frank can’t see his mother without crying for example. One of my favorite lines during this sequence of scenes references King Kong. I love how the Ghost of Christmas Past leaves Frank to watch the Dickens version of what he just saw. It is a nice transition back to the present day. Frank is now haunted by his past but he doesn’t want to believe he made wrong decisions. He has to justify leaving Claire in some way and so he goes to the homeless shelter in hopes of proving that she has a flaw. By the time Frank gets to Operation Reach Out, he is ready to admit he made a big mistake in letting Claire go but his selfishness gets in the way. He now cares for Claire but still no one else. This is what the Ghost of Christmas Present sets out to change. By the way even after Frank leaves the shelter, Claire is willing to forgive him and that shows just how wonderful she is. I like how the game that Calvin figures out shows Frank just how special Calvin is. I also like Frank’s face when he thinks he is going to hear what present he got from his brother only to have the Ghost ruin it. I also like the Herman death scene because it is humorously tragic and this is something Frank can’t change. At least the climax shows that Herman ends up happy. Is that Robert Goulet as the Ghost of Christmas Present in the live TV show? It sure looks like him. I like how Danny Elfman accompanies Elliot’s singing. That is funny. I also love how Frank mixes up the Ghosts of Christmas Future. Just like the original novel, our protagonist hopes he can change these images he is seeing. We all know that Frank is going to see his tombstone or something like that so Donner needed to make it fresh and original for the sake of drama. He needed to have a jump on the smart people in the audience. Frank sees his sister in law and assumes it is his brother’s casket. Suddenly his brother appears and we realize just what is going on. Great approach. We are scared just like those people back in the 19th century who thought that Scrooge was already dead. The fires of hell have been used before in other adaptations and they are applied here too in the form of cremation. The climax is lots of fun and I love the S.S. Minnow gag. The reaction of James and his friends is priceless. I would have loved to have seen this film in the theaters when Bill Murray breaks the fourth wall. As a side note, it is interesting that we see a plane blow up as a symbol of terrorism at the start of this film.

Bill Murray was as funny as the script allowed for but that still made things great. They way he delivers his end speech led one of my friends to wonder if it was scripted. That is why Murray would later in his career get an Oscar nomination. This movie introduced me to Karen Allen because I had not yet seen “Raiders of the Lost Ark” as a kid. She is quite sweet as Claire. Bobcat Goldthwait, who later be a voice in "Hercules", is Elliot and that was cool to find out. Murray throughout his career seems to include his family here and there in his movies. James is played by Bill Murray’s real life brother John! That is very cool. His two other brothers are in the show also, playing Frank’s father in 1955 and a guest at James’ party. Carol Kane from “The Princess Bride” was the Ghost of Christmas Present so that was fun. Donner strove for verisimilitude in “Superman” and he achieves it in “Scrooged” pretty nicely. This is my favorite contemporized version of “A Christmas Carol” hands down. It was fun to see ghosts get revenge on Bill Murray.

4 Stars