Christmas is supposed to be a happy time of year, so I’m doing things a little different for this marathon. Let’s start it off with one of, if not THE all-time greatest Christmas themed movie. Scrooged.
How and why would someone go about reviewing a movie that is, in my humble opinion, perfect? Because I set out to review movies for Christmas, and decided that I needed to include movies that some people may have never seen, but should. Top of that list is Scrooged.
Scrooged is easily the best comedic take on Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carole”. Yes, it’s even better than the Muppet Christmas Carole. In this version of the classic tale, Scrooge isn’t named directly but the character know as Mr. Frank Cross (as played by the genius Bill Murray), is analogues to Scrooge. He is a television executive, in charge of putting on a live production of the actual Christmas Carole. Frank Cross is under a lot of stress to get his live production to fit a LOT of different demographics. He has to coordinate actors, musicians, dancers, gymnasts, and some mice, to accomplish this. All the while, Mr. Cross puts business before everything else. As a result of this, he is warned by his recently resurrected, previously dead, boss that he will be visited by three ghosts. Frank doesn’t believe a word of this until the first ghost visits him and begins a wild ride through previous memories of Christmas, and those that have yet to come to pass.
Honestly, I can’t even count the number of times I have seen this movie. Yet, in spite of knowing the majority of it word for word, it still manages to make me laugh out loud every time. The animated gif I made above is a shinning example of this. (The actual fall was not scripted, but everyone thought it was so funny, the left it in.) Bill Murray plays the part of millionaire businessman “Frank Cross” perfectly. And, as I said to my wife while watching this, casting his actual father and brothers as his character’s father and brothers is genius. The rest of the casting is great, and the writing is sharp and holds up even after all these years.
Scrooged is the perfect holiday movie. It’s got a character that starts out terribly mean and foul-tempered that turns out to have a heart of gold. There’s comedy. There’s romance. And yes, I am not afraid to say that now that I have two boys of my own, when the little boy at the end whispers “God bless us, everyone.”, I tear up a little. I honestly cannot recommend watching this movie enough. Also, it’s crazy to think that back when this film was made, a VCR cost around $300. That’s a “Video Cassette Recorder” for the kids that don’t know.
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