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    Scrooged

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

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    Every time I see “Scrooged”, I like it less. The first time I thought it was alright. The second time I had more of a mixed reaction. I figured maybe it was just an off day but now I realize the off-day was that first day.

    Frank Cross (Bill Murray) is a cynical television programming executive who's putting together an extravagant production of “A Christmas Carol”. With the holidays showing his increasingly appalling behavior, he is visited by the ghost of his mentor (John Forsythe) who explains to him that three ghosts will appear to him before Christmas Day: The Ghosts of Christmas Past (David Johansen), Present (Carol Kane) and Future mean to teach Frank the true meaning of the holiday.

    Everyone knows this story. It’s about change but in this take, no change happens within Frank. Bill Murray, playing himself as usual, never stops spewing sarcastic remarks because director Richard Donner is attempting to turn a drama/horror into a comedy."A Christmas Carol" can't be earnest and funny at the same time.

    On the surface, this picture seemed like a good idea, but key details sink it. Frank is not the president of the television network, he’s an executive there. Not only does it make his guilt questionable, it means everyone working with him must be an idiot. By twisting and contorting the timeless tale, elements of it feel out of place. Karen Allen plays Claire Phillips, the love Frank lost years ago. Or did he? We’re supposed to believe that two people who haven’t seen each other in 15 years a) haven’t met anyone else in that time b) haven’t changed enough that they can’t get back together anymore c) have changed enough that the forces which drove them apart initially no longer apply d) have nothing better to do on Christmas Eve than meet and discuss “what could have been”, and e) that Claire is so blinded by nostalgia that she is undeterred by Frank’s behavior when she meets him. This is a hackneyed Hollywood plot where if you're still in love with someone you haven’t seen in 15 years it’s not creepy, it’s romantic!

    Some may call these criticisms nitpicks, but enough tiny holes doom any ship. If you can ignore factors like Frank not being intelligent enough to realize that no one else can see ghosts beside him, that an office shooting/hostage situation goes on without any consequences, that if the three ghosts had come to visit Frank a day earlier one less person would have died, this is still not a good movie.

    It's a comedy that really isn’t funny. That should be enough. David Johansen and Carol Kane as the ghosts visiting Frank are beyond irritating and they keep pounding you over the head with their screeching voices until they make way for the next annoyance. There’s not a whole lot of comedy found in scenarios where people lose their jobs, marriages fall apart or are reduced to living on the streets. Like any truly bad comedy, it tries to fool you into thinking you had a good time by sliding in some heartwarming moments towards the end - sentiments which are undeserved - and throwing in a love plot to make you go "awww". It goes even further by breaking the fourth wall and calling out to the audience and forcing them to sing along to a popular song. Don't get suckered by these cheap tactics.

    Found throughout "Scrooged" are bad would-be emotional moments by Murray who aren't counterbalanced by jokes and instead make you focus on the unintended drama and tragedy present throughout. The romance is clichéd, unbelievable and unnecessary. The internal logic nonexistent. It's topped with a conclusion that astute viewers will see right through. It's been called a new favorite but really watch it. You’ll see the flaws I observed and others too. Its nostalgia telling you this movie is good. You deserve better than this picture which completely misses the point of the story it's reinventing. (On DVD, December 20, 2015)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  28.3.2015 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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