Review of Scrooged (1988) by Adam S — 19 Dec 2013

"Scrooged" is a very funny take on the classic Charles Dickens tale "A Christmas Carol", but it is let down by an overly silly middle section featuring the "Ghost of Christmas Present". Dickens sort of set that up, by getting the Present ghost to be a fairy, and this film makes the character everything that is annoying about fairies in the first place, to the detriment of the film.

Of course, the rest of it holds itself together mainly due to the influence of the remarkable Bill Murray, who can be sarcastic and cruel when his character requires it. Murray seems to be having a lot of fun, particularly in the opening scenes, and that improves the film.

This makes this a bearable, if not exactly a classic, Christmas tale. And there's not many bearable Christmas tales out there.