ScroogedCharles Dickens' A Christmas Carol has been told and presented in an almost incalculable number of incarnations--with good reason: it's a great story. And while other modern adaptations exist, there are none that have the same kind of charm and humor as Richard Donner's Scrooged, starring Bill Murray (in what I consider his finest role) as the "Scrooge", Frank Cross, big shot prez of the IBC television network, prepping a massive live Christmas Eve television presentation of...well, A Christmas Carol. Inevitably, Frank ends up going through a transformative event like Ebenezer in his own way, colored by his own experiences.
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Even those who have never read A Christmas Carol are likely acquainted with the story, as it's become such an indelible part of Christmas lore. And since it has seen the silver screen and made-for-tv movies often enough, Scrooged doesn't belabor the tale, but reinvents it for an era full of 1980's-era greed and selfishness as befits Frank's current domain, amid the hustle and bustle of New York City as a stand in for 19th-century London. Frank Cross could very well be the descendant of Ebenezer Scrooge, with his cutthroat business practices and self-serving dismissal of others' needs. But Bill Murray's portrayal stands apart, as manic, shouting and increasingly frazzled, as his sense of control swiftly slips away, accosted by the ghost of his former boss, and the three spirits, all while struggling to put a little love back into his heart by reconnecting with his lost love, Claire (Karen Allen). Like Scrooge, his flashbacks with the Ghost of Christmas Past (David Johansen) show us that Frank wasn't always such a "schmuck", but that he became driven to constantly scramble for success from his humble beginnings and his addiction to television. His real life never truly began until he got struck in the head from a record shop door by his soon-to-be girlfriend, earning him the ignoble nickname, "Lumpy". The Ghost of Christmas Present (Carol Kane) is a pixie who acts as though she were on a sugar high, imbued with a penchant for violently striking Lumpy...er, Frank to wake him up to the suffering of the world around him, or at least remind him of the life he's missing. The exchanges between Frank and her represent one of the most humorous points in the film. And while the Ghost of Christmas Future remains as silent as the grave, his portrayal in a TV-dominated world is a smart metaphor that makes for an enjoyable climax.
But one of the things that marks Scrooged as being more than just a Christmas movie--and bucks the trend of really a lot of movies--is the rather unorthodox ending, which is so well remembered because of how unusual it is, as well as how heartfelt Bill Murray's monologue is to not just the "viewing audience" in the film's world, but to us as well. Having initially been relegated to his upstairs office to oversee the filming of his world's laughable interpretation of A Christmas Carol, he recovers his humanity and boldly leaps onto this "stage of the world" to deliver an impassioned message about the meaning of Christmas. From a lesser actor, this speech might come across as forced and patronizing; but Bill Murray conveys such a sense of deep sentiment and enthusiasm that it is impossible to not want to go and run out and take Frank Cross' suggestion to show someone, anyone just how much you care, so that for a few hours once a year, we can have that "Christmas miracle", and be the good people we always want to be. The television studio setting of the conclusion echoes Bill Murray's earlier days as a key player on Saturday Night Live, as Frank takes center stage bounding back and forth between comedy and earnestness. The closing moments where the whole cast breaks out into a performance of Jackie DeShannon's "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" is rousingly touching, and seals that promise that if we just make that step, that if we want to be that great person, we can, and we can have that great feeling of a full heart for having helped our fellow man if we only try a little bit...and the world will be a better place.
Recommended for: Fans of Christmas movies with a good message that is also both uproariously funny and touching. You'll be quoting lines from it for weeks...or at least around next Christmas when you're setting up the tree.
But one of the things that marks Scrooged as being more than just a Christmas movie--and bucks the trend of really a lot of movies--is the rather unorthodox ending, which is so well remembered because of how unusual it is, as well as how heartfelt Bill Murray's monologue is to not just the "viewing audience" in the film's world, but to us as well. Having initially been relegated to his upstairs office to oversee the filming of his world's laughable interpretation of A Christmas Carol, he recovers his humanity and boldly leaps onto this "stage of the world" to deliver an impassioned message about the meaning of Christmas. From a lesser actor, this speech might come across as forced and patronizing; but Bill Murray conveys such a sense of deep sentiment and enthusiasm that it is impossible to not want to go and run out and take Frank Cross' suggestion to show someone, anyone just how much you care, so that for a few hours once a year, we can have that "Christmas miracle", and be the good people we always want to be. The television studio setting of the conclusion echoes Bill Murray's earlier days as a key player on Saturday Night Live, as Frank takes center stage bounding back and forth between comedy and earnestness. The closing moments where the whole cast breaks out into a performance of Jackie DeShannon's "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" is rousingly touching, and seals that promise that if we just make that step, that if we want to be that great person, we can, and we can have that great feeling of a full heart for having helped our fellow man if we only try a little bit...and the world will be a better place.
Recommended for: Fans of Christmas movies with a good message that is also both uproariously funny and touching. You'll be quoting lines from it for weeks...or at least around next Christmas when you're setting up the tree.