A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens 'A Christmas Carol' is a classic. It's been told in many different ways and formats. From book, radio, the stage, the big screen and beyond. From Muppets to CGI, through comedy and through tragedy, there's even musicals. This version doesn't fail to impress.

A Scottish retelling has old Scrooge the boss of a distillery in modern days. With Bob Cratchit his faithful employee, and her ill husband Tim.

Shot on a budget but with good camera work and pretty decent acting all around. The colours are dark and gritty but it makes sense when Ebeneezer comes to his senses and his world lights up. Stuart Brennan emotes pretty well as Ebeneezer and he had me cheering for him in the end. Keeps to the Dickens spirit and is well worthy of a watch at Christmas..... Oh; and it stars the gorgeous Bonnie Wright too. Extra half star for that.

Go into it expecting a full blown high budget movie and you'll be very disappointed. But manage your expectations and you might have a pleasant time with this little film. Look at it like a local theater take on the classic story and it's worth the short runtime. The acting may not be legendary but the actors themselves are likable. The story is a modern take but it hits the classic beats. The music isn't a masterpiece but it's nice and fitting. And there is one area where the movie does excel and that's with the beautiful but melancholy scenery of the Scottish countryside. Is this destined to be a perennial classic version of a Christmas Carol? No it's not but it gave me a smile and left me glad that I at least gave it a shot.

Scrooge needed to see a barber immediately! The worse was using the same lines as the old movies did. It's supposed to be in England. Jacob Marley was supposed to show in his car, not on the way home. Once the driver stopped Scrooge came flying out yelling & screaming at something ONLY he could see & hear. No one understands why Mrs. Crotchet is called Bob & her husband is Tim. The scene in the bakery was funny. Firing & rehiring Mrs. Crotchet at a better pay was great. Rehiring the couple he fired for being late was good. I'm not saying it has to be the exact same. Changing too much not good.

I normally try to watch all versions of a Christmas Carol and at one time my family collected any version that was on VHS or DVD and if it wasn't available we could always record it, as my late mother was really into it. I even had made up a list of every version that came out so we could collect them and bought her the book a duplicate of Dickens original book. I've only come across one version I thought was worth (one revolving around trailer park trash) This just doesn't do it. It's trying to be a darker version with trying to use some of the original lines, it just doesn't work. If they changed the writing, settings, and the terrible acting maybe it would it work as this doesn't.

This is kind of off best but still very good. One review said it was boring but it still gets the message across in a different way. I have seen about all the versions but this is different.