Des fantômes pour Noël

My husband and I stumbled on this movie last year, and just loved it. Wallace Shawn as the crotchety Scrooge-like character is a joy to watch (although the scenes when he was supposed to be younger were a little painful due to the poor make-up job). He plays sweet, wistful, mean, and nasty with such dexterity. Truly a gifted performance.

The ghosts are a blast, particularly Larry Miller (whose comedy routines I love!). Tom Everett Scott does a very good job as the unwitting recipient of the ghost-visits - a man who is on the verge of becoming just like his Scroogy-neighbor.

The casting of the children in this story, however, seems like an after-thought. Only one little boy actually shines in his portrayal. The others are wooden, and they mumble through their horribly written lines. Thankfully, they don't have much screen time.

This isn't the greatest re-telling of A Christmas Carol, but it is a very sweet and fun way to get into the Christmas "Spirit".

Tom Everett Scott and a strong supporting cast spice up what could have been just another made for TV three ghost visit movie.

This movie pokes fun at all those Christmas Carol rip-offs and finally points out that sometimes we humans have to take responsibility and solve our own problems.

This one is a true feel good film.

Larry Miller, Alanna Ubach and Verne Troyer are outstanding as the bumbling ghostly trio! I loved the twist on Jacob Marley as well.

Just a fun tongue in cheek look at Charles Dickens' classic!

This one is worth seeing! I just hope it shows up with the Ghost of Christmas future during the next Yule Time Season!

Karroll's Christmas is one of 2004's Christmas TV gems amid an onslaught of holiday specials this year. Tom Everett Scott (ER) is engaging as the lead in this modern and extremely funny retell of Dicken's Christmas Carol, and Wallace Shawn (Princess Bride) is both charming and funny as Scrooge.

The twist this time around is that the ghosts have gotten the wrong address and they take the wrong guy (Allen Karrol, played by Scott) through his crotchety neighbor's life (Wally Shawn).

Along the way, Karrol learns how his neighbor got so crotchety and becomes sympathetic to a man whom he abhorred, prior. Well directed (Dennis Dugan) and cleverly written, (Drew Daywalt & David Schneider), this one is bound to become a perennial. Five stars out of five.

I have to agree with the posting from cyberdoc-6 - this warped version of the well-loved Dicken's tale is just a waste of valuable time. It seems to be a amalgamation of scenes or ideas from different movies patch-worked together to make something akin to Bill Murray's "Scrooged" (1988). The jokes are feeble or just plain crude and the characters have no depth (except for the portrayal by Wallace Shawn).

There are better reasons for disliking Christmas than your girlfriend saying "No Thanks" to an engagement ring. Why set yourself up for failure by proposing in a hugely public place (scene pinched from 1988s "Working Girl") where either she feels pressured for a positive response or you feel humiliated if you don't get the answer you want?

Give this one a miss. One star out of five.

When my wife saw the advertisement for this and asked me to record it, I first found the Tori Spelling wreck, A Carrol's Christmas. I am glad I clarified with her, and with TiVo's search tools found the right one.

This is a great spoof of the classic story remade countless times. The execution was good but probably not good enough to be rerun every Christmas. The bits are mostly great but occasionally fall short, primarily by being slightly predictable. It has good mix of comedy and seasonal tugs at the heartstrings, but rings just a bit as an after school special. Still I look forward to seeing it next year.

If you liked this at all, especially the occasional tendency to stray toward innuendo, I would highly recommend another Christmas film, Bernard and the Genie (1991) (TV) with Lenny Henry, Alan Cumming and Rowan Atkinson.