Fantômes en fête

Scrooged is a fresh, dark and original take on the classic Christmas Carol story. The ghosts are humorous and horrifying and Bill Murray does an excellent job of creating a modern-day Ebeneezer Scrooge. The ending is quite cheesy, but, then again, isn't that what Christmas movies are all about?

...not quite , but his performance in Scrooged isnt far behind omnipitancy. With exception to Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day, this is probably one of his most hilarious performances to date. In this re-working of Dickens "A Christmas Carol" , Murray plays Frank Cross, a tight fisted,selfish Network Executive who, as christmas rapidly approaches, finds himself needing to hasten up proceedings on his networks live Christmas Carol show, which is airing on Christmas eve. From the very start of the film, we are treated to how unkind and selfish, Murrays character really is, yet we still cant bring ourselves to hate him.....even when he suggests to a prop man that he should STAPLE little plastic antlers to the heads of door-mice.

Due to a very creepy encounter with his dead boss, Cross is warned that he will be visited by 3 ghosts, and so the story takes off, as he meets 3 very unusual ghosts with even weirder traits, such as the ghost of christmas present, who likes to randomly beat Cross up, every time he shows no heart. Best of all is the NOO YAWK talkin taxi driver, who i feel almost steals the show from Murray ....which is one of the hardest things in the world!!!

Running throughout the film, is, ...sadly, a rather weak sub plot of Cross and his ex-lover, which , i love for all the wrong reasons.....but sadly, to people who have never seen the film, might find a bit tedious.

But of course....its Murray who comes away from this looking cool, as , even though he has experienced some genuinely scary things ( the halucination of a waiter on fire is still creepy), we lap up his dead pan reactions to it all!!

Francis Cross is a successful TV executive but at Christmas time he is about as miserable a man as you could wish to meet. Forcing people to work over the holidays and unwilling to think of anyone but himself. As Christmas Eve approaches Francis is visited by his dead boss, warning him to change his ways; when he doesn't he is visited by three ghosts who show him Christmas in the past, present and future.

Each year there are plenty of versions of the classic Christmas Carol story, but this film is consistently one of the better ones. It starts with a great dark comedy that sees some very imaginative gags (The Night The Reindeer Died) as well as Murray given great material. At some point (roughly ghost 2), sentimentality starts to set in and the film doesn't quite have the edge on it that it did. It still works - in fact, ghost 3 is not so much sentimental as really dramatic!

What holds it all together though is a great performance from Murray. He is funny throughout but also does the work to try and hold off the sentimentality of the piece - although it does come through, as one would expect with a Christmas movie! The support cast is good and includes Woodard, Goldthwait, Goulet, Farr and Mitchum. I didn't feel like Kane's Christmas Present really worked and didn't find her funny in the least. While the support cast add to the film, it is almost totally belonging to Bill Murray and the fact that it is so enjoyable is mostly due to him (although not even he can carry off the audience interaction over the end credits).

Overall this is a good Christmas movie - it does give you a nice little festive glow but also has enough cynical edge to keep the syrup at bay for a certain amount of the time. Regardless of everything else, Bill Murray is great in the lead and holds the movie together better than someone else may have been able to.

This is my favorite "adaptation" of A Christmas Carol. It's also my favorite Christmas movie. A lot of people say that Bill Murray's character of Frank Cross is unlikeable. Would you prefer a warm and fuzzy Scrooge for the first half? Then there are those who say that the end is sappy. The ending is what I like the most. And Murray's acting is much better than other Scrooges, who usually overact. Murray manages to be over-the-top with his cruelty while still making his acting believable. Cross is truly Scrooge-like, reveling in the death of an old woman caused by his commercial because it's free publicity. Another common comment is that Carol Kane steals the scene as the Ghost of Christmas Present. Not true. The chemistry between Murray and Kane ensures that they share the screen perfectly. This is a wonderful movie. I can't understand why anyone would say otherwise. Bobcat Goldthwait puts in a great performance as a disgruntled employee fired on Christmas Eve. The best part is the end. This movie has what has to be the happiest ending in the history of movies. He understands the meaning of Christmas, gets a new lease on life, gets the girl, the little boy talks, and everybody sings a song. Danny Elfman provides the score, doing a brilliant job as always. A beautiful movie all around. A+

This is a perfect vehicle for Bill Murray, his brand of sarcastic and caustic delivery is nailed on perfect for Frank Cross, the modern day scrooge in this tale. I have often found him to be an acquired taste, I mean don't get me wrong here, I'm a big fan and can repeatedly watch his best offerings, but it's not hard to understand why his style is not universally loved. Scrooged is pure and simply the modern spin of the story we all have grown up with, that isn't to say that the film loses anything as regards Christmas spirit, because it doesn't, the message is still the same, and in this ever changing world of ours the core essence of the story is one the world should heed.

This version is a blast, it's loud, it's brash, but boy is it damn funny, and I personally watch it every Christmas without fail. And yes, I watch it alongside the glorious Alistair Sim version, for although they are poles apart in class, they both entertain for very different reasons.

Joining Murray in this festive romp is the delightful Karen Allen, while luminaries such as former New York Dolls front man David Johansen and Mr. Laconic himself, Robert Mitchum, add some weight to the cast list. It all works really rather well with the exception of Carol Kane's Ghost Of Christmas Present, where to me she comes off as being more annoying than funny, but that of course is a personal opinion and I know as fact that many others adore her energetic performance. With quips aplenty and of course with a simple heartfelt message at the core, Scrooged is truly a sharp and enjoyable film to be enjoyed at the festive period.

Thanks boys, get the nurse! 8/10