Review of A Christmas Carol (1984) by Michael M — 18 Dec 2017

Of all the Christmas Carol adaptations I've seen (and I've seen plenty) this is probably the one I have the least to say about. In a strange way though, that's kind of a good thing. I don't have any major nitpicks, it tells the story and it tells it well.

The only problem is, again, it's a little undewhelming as it never goes above and beyond in it's storytelling past just telling Dickens' tale as best it can. There's nothing memorable about it in a bad way, but not much stands out as exceptional either.

Well, except two things. First, I love how they handle the ghost of Christmas yet to come. He's off in the distance mostly and we never really get a full view of him, which works a lot better than some adaptations that put him front and center.

Second, George C. Scott as Scrooge. That's really what elevates the whole movie and makes it arguably the best adaptation of this story yet. He's a very powerful and sometimes menacing sort of Scrooge.

It seems like he's always trying to be in control, even when it's clear he isn't. This makes the scenes where he looses control or his inevitable turnaround all the better. He's portrayed not as an evil man, but as a man that's been broken down over the years and has no room left in his heart for what he views as nonsense, and that's the perfect way to play Scrooge.

With Scrooge being the most important character in this story, this makes what could have been an okay adaptation into one of the best of these adaptations, if not the best. The film has some issues with pacing, a banal tone at times, and some pretty clear signs of aging.

Nothing about it truly blew me away, except for Scott's Scrooge, but I think that's fine. A classic story like this deserves it's deffinitive adaptation, and for my money I think this one could be it.