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- Neil Middlemiss
Scrooged remains a delightfully manic and funny holiday treat – a take on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol that updates and twists it just enough to be fresh without a hollow facsimile of the originating tale. Bill Murray is the career driven executive bent on forcing cast and crew to work on Christmas Eve putting on a live broadcast of A Christmas Carol who is taken on a journey into who he was and who he will be. The brilliant production design and playful makeup and practical effect augment the ridiculously good performances and energetic and spirited script. Scrooged easily belongs as a staple of holiday viewing!
Scrooged
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Year: 1988
US Rating: Rated PG-13.
Film Length: 100 Minutes
Video: AVC MPEG-4 1080P High Definition 16X9
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese
Release Date: November 1, 2011
Review Date: November 18, 2011
“You've got a promo featuring America's favorite old fart reading a book in front of a fireplace! Now I have to kill all of you!”
The Film
4/ 5
Frank Cross is a cold-hearted television network executive – a narrow minded, self-focused megalomaniac with a mean spirit and a proclivity for demanding that his executive suite be an echo chamber for his ideas. But his life is turned upside down when he is visited one night by three ghosts who aim to save him from the bad man he has become (and relishes in being).
This updated version of Charles Dickens’ 1843 classic tale (A Christmas Carol) of the curmudgeonly Ebenezer Scrooge being visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future is cleverly (and suitably) migrated into the modern setting of the IBC Television studio, with Bill Murray assuming the wickedly mean lead role of Frank Cross (a more likely name in late 1980’s New York). Dickens’ tale took the Scrooge character on a harrowing journey through his own life, with the ghosts of past, present and future all painting a bleak picture of who scrooge had become and how his life, if left on a course uncorrected, would end hollow, absent of joy, purpose and the concern of anyone but his devoted brother.
Richard Donner, a director more commonly associated with helming action and adventure stories (Lethal Weapon, Superman – The Movie) indulges some twisted sensibilities that play like a muted Tim Burton (muted compared to Burtons exuberant journeys into comparable realms in films like Beetlejuice), though through the comedic liveliness of Bill Murray, and some top-notch make-up and practical effects, provide all the nuttiness this humorous telling needs.
Scrooged is borne on the back of Bill Murray and thankfully he is in top form. A wildness to his performance – a mania tempered only by the cold, calculating nature of his characters wicked ways, expertly elicits laughs from his pendulum swing between the two extremes. Clearly Murray delights in the role and as his character’s meanness is chiseled away through the story by the visiting apparitions, he ably navigates the emotion on such a slight curve that the ludicrously joyous sing-along ending is wholly earned.
The supporting players are well cast and in great form. Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark) brings her sweet eyes and wide smile to the role of Claire Phillips, Frank Cross’ old flame, John Glover nimbly achieves likeable suave as Cross’ nemesis or sorts, Bobcat Goldthwaite plays as Eliot Loudermilk – a recently (and unfairly) fired employee , the late, great Robert Mitchum turns in a funny but brief performance as Franks boss, Preston Rhinelander, and the lovely Alfre Woodward stars as Grace Cooley – the retellings version of Bob Cratchitt (her son is mute rather than just sickly). There are also deliciously good performances from David Johanson as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present and Michael Pollard as an unfortunate homeless man.
Scrooged is a visual treat and with uniformly wonderful actors having fun with the off-kilter modern retelling, this film should be part of everyone’s holiday tradition.
The Video
4/5
Scrooged arrives (a little early) for the holidays for the first time in high definition and the results are very good. The image benefits from fine detail, clean presentation and a no notable examples of digital interference. The colors don’t pop as you might expect (the holiday decorations in the corporate headquarters – reds and greens – are somewhat dull) but generally fall in line with other films from the 80’s (in my experience). In fact, the level of detail available on this HD release puts the previous DVD release to shame. Paramount has had a mix of triumphs and moderate successes going back to their 80’s catalogue, but Scrooged rates very highly.
The Sound
3.5/5
Scrooged comes with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio option with a little boom and bluster during appropriate sequences, however the audio is a little flat at times. That isn’t to say that this is a sub-par audio, on the contrary; dialogue is crisp in the center channel, there is nice disbursement throughout the surrounds, and Danny Elfman’s score hops and horns its way throughout the film with its expected frenzy.
The Extras
1/ 5
Disappointingly, this release does not come with any special features beyond the theatrical trailer.
Final Thoughts
Scrooged remains a hilariously quirky, warm, funny, and feel-good holiday treat with Bill Murray giving a performance that swings perfectly between the callous corporate type and the soft-hearted, wide-eyed former self. It’s the kind of likeable silliness – with the perfect amount tenderness and a sweet core – that mixes richly to serve up a mini-classic.
Overall (Not an average)
4/5
Neil Middlemiss
Kernersville, NC
