Bill Murray as Frank Cross is just as funny as any comedic role he puts his heart and dedication to. The great thing with Bill Murray is that I almost never just seeing him play Bill Murray. And for some reason I think people just see Bill Murray. but for not me. Granted a lot of people love seeing Bill Murray be Bill Murray, but again I get a different perspective. I believe this character shares a good amount of differences with other characters Murray has played like Peter Venkman from Ghostbusters and Bob Wiley from What About Bob? I guess I can see some similarities with Phil Connors from Groundhog Day, but there are still some differences. I guess what I can say is that Murray is just good at playing the sarcastic jerk, but they are different sarcastic jerks, if that makes sense. Frank Cross has a more tragic and sad backstory, as you would expect for your Scrooge character. But this character just proves that Murray is just as good of an actor as he is a comedian. Because there are times when he does deliver a little comedy mixed with a little drama, and you find yourself laughing but at the same time sympathizing with him. For example, there's a scene in which he sees his mother in the past and starts crying. When he starts crying, he makes one of the silliest crying faces that it is hard not to laugh at but at the same time you feel genuinely sorry for him. That is because this a very well done performance as well as a solidly written Scrooge reimagining. I enjoy every minute of him. There is Karen Allen as Frank Cross' old flame Claire Phillips . She may seem one note, boring, and just the typical nice girlfriend. But playing the nice girlfriend, Allen actually does a decent job. She's kind-hearted, bubbly, really adorable, and she has a good amount of personality to her. Alfre Woodard plays Grace Cooley, Cross' secretary and the Bob Cratchit for this story. Bob Cratchit was always portrayed as timid but still always kind-hearted and optimistic. But I absoludtely loved what they did with this character. She's sort of cynical, sarcastic, witty, a no-nonsense type of gal, and it is very clear that she does not care much for her boss. But much like Cratchit, when it comes to family, she could not love or care for anyone else more, especially her youngest son Calvin (Nicholas Phillips), who obviously is our Tiny Tim. It is one of those perfect Cratchit adaptations that captures the spirit of the original character while at the same time solidly updated for the modern audience. Now let's get to other characters that make up a lot of the comedy in the film besides Murray. David Johansen as the Ghost Christmas of Past is very funny. Unlike the original and most adaptations of this ghost, which is usually soft and graceful, this one is loud, dirty, and obnoxious. And boy, does he do good at it. This is one of those obnoxious jerks, you would have to admit you would love to have a conversation or crack jokes with. It is such an enjoyable off setting to the original character. We then have Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present who is downright hilarious! She shares a lot of similarities with the original character, that's she is somewhat kind, jolly, and loves to have a good time. But they go further with that personality as she just likes to randomly hit people out of the simple joy she gets out of it. I love seeing characters that look so bubbly and innocent, but happens to be so violent at the same time. She is just so enjoyable to watch. Now Bobcat Goldthwait as Eliot is, excuse my language, FRIGGIN HILARIOUS! Jesus, does this guy make me laugh hard! I just love how hilariously pathetic he is! Usually doing a funny voice, does not help as much for me, but this guy probably has one of the most hilarious whiny pathetic voices ever! And he can go a lot of places with that voice. He can be low, subtle, pathetic, angry, over the top, drunk, all over the place, it's very funny! Every time he appears on screen, he makes me crack up and almost die with laughter.
I think I said enough that the comedy in this film is done tremendously good. And all that is because of the good amount of comedic characters this film has. Their deliveries is what makes a lot of their jokes work, and what really makes me laugh hard. For example, there is a scene where Frank is talking to Claire but set builders on the production set keep hammering away as Frank keeps yelling at them to stop hammering. But his delivery, the way he talks to these guys, and the fact that the builders just keep hammering is what's funny to him. You feel the frustration he has and it is just funny that you find yourself siding with this jerk at this one point. But how well does this film successfully tell the story of A Christmas Carol, while at the same time being its own presentation. Well for one the changes it does make to the original do make a lick amount of sense, whether it would be for comedy or even tragedy. I'll tell you right now that the Tiny Tim in this version does not die in the future, but what happens instead (shudders) it still is as or probably even more depressing and tragic. Because of this, I think the reason why this film does not have as much fans as it should is because most of it is mean-spirited. Christmas Carol is a dark story that has a happy ending, but even the original you can argue had fair share of uplifting moments throughout. But changes to the characters and the situations, like making Bill Murray almost unlikable, making the Cratchit a little more sarcastic and cynical than the original, working in some horror elements, and the fate of Tiny Tim a lot more depressing I can see why it would throw off a lot of people, and probably offend dedicated fans to the original story. But this is the one time where I actually saw a modern day Christmas Carol adaptation really, really work! There are a lot of adaptations to the story that take place in the modern times, most notably a lot made for TV, but they hardly ever work. It basically is the same telling of the story we already know by heart, except in modern times. There hardly any changes. It's the same thing over, and over, and over again. Why watch it, it's pointless seeing how he already know what's going to happen. Which is why I really like the mean-spirited attitude this film has. It is one of the few times I tolerate mean-spiritedness in a film, because hey, honestly our world is mostly cynical and mean-spirited. We have to deal with it but that's how it is. This film is very much closer to our world than many adaptations that have the story take place in the modern world. That and it still successfully captures the spirit of the original story. It has memorable characters, a welcoming atmosphere despite the mean-spiritedness, the magic, the love of Christmas, and a really uplifting ending. And when I mean a really uplifting ending, I mean a REALLY, REALLY uplifting ending. It may seem corny to some, but God do I absolutely love it. When Frank Cross gains the spirit of Christmas, he is so genuinely happy and jolly that it is so hard not to fell uplifted and enlightened as he is. On top of that he makes this well written, well performed, and very true to the point speech about how awesome Christmas is that is very hard to agree with it. I don't care if it seems corny and cheesy, I think the way this speech is written and performed is flawless. Bill Murray makes us really enjoy the spirit with this character. It just feels so genuine and heartwarming that not only is it one of my favorite scenes from a Christmas Carol adaptation, a Christmas movie, but from any film period. I do not know what else I have to say about the scene. It alone gives this film the entire enjoyable spirit that it completely overshadows the mean-spiritedness. It is absolutely my favorite scene in the entire film. This film accomplishes so much that most modern adaptations wishes it can accomplish!
GRADE: AE
SANTA'S LIST: NICE
0 Comments