With Christmas just around the corner and holiday cheer filling the air, what better way to celebrate this momentous time of year than watching a darkly surreal black comedy that takes a twisted turn on Charles Dicken’s classic, “A Christmas Carol?”
That’s right, the ‘80s Christmas classic, if there can be such a title, “Scrooged” is back in its holiday setting and ready to be reminisced.
Bill Murray takes on the modern equivalent on Ebeneezer Scrooge, Frank Cross. Cross, as the trope goes, is a successful, yet cynical big shot that finds himself visited by the three ghosts of Christmas past. The ghosts, following the old story, attempt to show him the harmful effects of his cruel and rude ways.
While the plot is nowhere near new, the movie is brought to life by Murray’s deadpan put downs and cut-through-it style.
As a money and work obsessed Cross, Murray articulates his straight-shot put downs with flat disdain and sharp glares. His condescending nature and hilarious insults toward unsuspecting victims are both infuriating and funny.
However, Murray is able to balance out his character’s less than admirable qualities with a hidden moral compass, making his role not only believable but perfectly uplifting for the holidays.
As great as this movie does play out to be, largely due to Murray’s brilliant performance, the movie gets caught in the same-old, same-old plot of, “A Christmas Carol,” that while we all know and love, gets boring pretty quick.
It’s no surprise movies are constantly being made based off successful classics as they can offer a sense of joyful nostalgia. But this movie added nothing new to keep it from falling through the cracks of a tired plot.
But, despite the predictable story line and at times never ending scenes, Murray and cast were able to keep this movie lively and enjoyable. After all, can you ever go wrong with a classic?[vc_empty_space][vc_custom_heading text=”Need more movies to get into the holiday spirit? Read more of Bearing New’s movie reviews!” google_fonts=”font_family:Cabin%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C600%2C600italic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”]