Le Cadeau de Carole

A Christmas Carol has always been one of my favorite stories. I consider it to be the only "perfect" story ever written. I consider it wonderful that a story written in 1843 by Charles Dickens could still be as important and topical today as a newspaper headline. I feel that in this age of rampant commercialism and trivilization of Christmas that Dicken's story is as important as ever. Hollywood has always tried to take advantage of our love of this wonderful book. There have been literally dozens and hundreds of adaptations. On the radio, Scrooge was played by John and Lionel Barrymore, on the stage he was played by Olivier. In the movies, he has been played by Sir Seymour Hicks, Reginald Owen, Alastair Sim, Albert Finney, Bill Murray and Michael Caine and on television he has been played by Sterling Hayden, James Whitmore, Jack Klugman, Walter Matthau, George C. Scott, Henry Winkler, Jack Elam and Patrick Stewart. Its ironic that the best adaptation of Scrooge was done by a woman Susan Lucci in the classic 1995 Lifetime special Ebbie. THAT IS THE BEST VERSION OF THIS STORY TRUST ME FOLKS! However Tori Spelling does a fine job in this modern day version as well. Tori is the daughter of tv tycoon Aaron Spelling and got her start on her dad's tv show "Beverly Hills 90210" (boy do you suppose he helped get her the part?) I know its easy to be cynical and say that, but BUT Tori is a fine actress in her own right and to me she "earned her spurs" in this film playing a very challenging role. In playing Scrooge, you are in a sense playing three parts. Scrooge is a miserable miser in the beginning, and slowly evolving and showing remorse as the spirits visit him and then he is kind and loving in the end. To me Spelling accomplishes this very well. She plays Carol Cartman a "Ricki Lake" like tv trash host who cares only about herself and the Nielsen ratings. One night the ghost of her Aunt Marla(Marley)Dinah Manoff visits her and warns she will be visited by three....oh well you know the rest. Spelling gives a fine performance and really does well in the traditional "repentance" speech that Scrooge gives after Christmas future shows him his horrible fate if he doesn't change...(Why show me this if I am past all hope...I will change...I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year...I will live in the Past, Present and future...This is a very well made film from Hallmark and I give it high marks.

Certainly not just the 3rd female scrooge! What about Vanessa Williams in A Diva's Christmas Carol or Cicely Tyson in Ms. Scrooge, who was great by the way... Both worth watching! Cicely was fantastically mean and miserly, almost stomping on a child's fingers to stop him from picking a quarter up from the street. She got the quarter, of course. And Vanessa as the rock-star diva was cute too, another great variation of the classic story. I'm biased in that I would watch any variation of A Christmas Carol, including the animated versions, (I love the Mr. Magoo one also). It's an uplifting tale that can warm the heart of any Grinch, including me...

Though they used a ton of B-List actors, the movie, in my opinion was a pretty decient movie. It was actually a very nice spin on the original and wasn't too sappy. I am also not a very big fan of Tori Spelling, but she was actually pretty good in this movie as the self centered Talk Show Host. Granted, it is not the greatest adaptation of it, but it gets its point across without being too dumb. The acting and adaptation was actually what made it for me!Others include Gary Colman and William Shatner. I know I know, cheesy actors, but their characters of the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present were actually pretty endearing characters. In my opinion, this is a lot better than Vh1's take on the tale in a Diva's Christmas Carol. The movie also stayed close to the main message that the original tale had. This is definitely better than the stars it has right now. I mean, I should have hated this movie, and I actually loved it! Tori Spelling did well!!

Carol (Tori Spelling) is the star of an afternoon talk show. Unhappily, she is quite the diva and makes life miserable for those around her, especially her assistant Rebecca (Nina Siemaszko). Rebecca, a single mother, needs the job desperately and works far harder than she should to keep getting a paycheck. Now, its Christmastime, a holiday Carol hates, so she is very testy. After sending Rebecca shopping for meager presents for the staff, Carol lays down to take a nap. But, ho, ho, ho! First, she gets a visit from her deceased aunt's ghost (Dinah Manoff), the pushy woman who once acted as Carol's manager. Auntie warns Carol that she better change her ways and be kinder, for she herself has to wander the earth as a ghost, due to her past behavior. Then, just as Carol recovers from this shock, she gets a visit from Christmas Past (Gary Coleman), Xmas Present, Dr. Bob (William Shatner), and, naturally, ghastly Christmas Future. Past takes Carol back to her childhood, where her aunt manipulated the young girl into school play stardom, by hook or by crook. Then, its on to her early acting days, where Carol had a nice boyfriend but got "too busy" in her career to see him anymore. Carol also makes an invisible trip to Rebecca's very humble home, to her sister's abode and to her, Carol's, funeral, where few folks come to mourn. Will the talk show hostess change her ways? You bet! This is really a nice film, even though it is one of many modern takes on Dickens classic story. Spelling does a fine job as the insufferable Carol and the rest of the cast is very good, too, including Coleman, Shatner, Manoff, Siemaszko, and others. Two romantic male roles are filled by real lookers, although they are not household names. Originally on Hallmark, the movie also boasts nice sets, costumes, script, direction, and camera work. All in all, if you love romantic dramas or uplifting Christmas flicks, take time to find this one. Just like carol singers, the movie will put you in the right mood and attitude for the holidays.

The story was a relatively faithful adaptation to the modern era with no surprises or anything to set it apart.

The acting was fair at best. Most of the main parts didn't come off as natural. This story didn't need any overacting yet it was there for some of the parts. I wasn't impressed with Tori Spelling, but it was about the norm for her.