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List Price: $19.99 | | Label: Paramount
Salesrank: 46576
Released: November 9, 1999 |
| Our Price: $18.94 |
| Used Price: $10.00 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Most critics couldn't get behind Bill Murray's modern retelling of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, finding it too unfocused at times and not nearly wicked enough. Still, if you're a Murray fan, you have to enjoy his deliciously nasty portrayal of the world's meanest TV executive, who has his cathartic moment one cold Christmas night in New York City. The various ghosts lead him on a ghost-town tour of Manhattan, with stops at holidays past, present, and future and a Kumbaya moment when Al Green and Annie Lennox sing "Put a Little Love in Your Heart." The effects are otherworldly, but one wishes the writing were as sharp as Murray's edgy portrayal. --Marshall Fine
Scrooged Reviews:
A modern-day Christmas Carol 
2009-12-19 - Imagine Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol set in the modern world. That's what director Richard Donner and writers Mitch Glazer & Michael O'Donoghue have brought us. Instead of 19th-Century Britain, it's now 20th-Century New York City. Instead of Ebenezer Scrooge, we get Bill Murray as Frank Cross. Instead of sentimental drama, we get some satirical and verbal comedy. The only things that stays the same are the three ghosts, the Scrooge personality, and the definition of Christmas. I wouldn't consider this one of the greatest films of the holidays, but I will say that it works well as a Bill Murry comedy. There are dozens of funny jokes and plentiful sight gags that you can enjoy watching again and again. Overall, I'd say that this is a very good Christmas film and I did enjoy watching it, but please not that it may not be appropriate for little kids.
Bill Murray gets Scrooged 
2009-12-19 - When I first saw this years ago, I thought it was OK, but not great. Something bothered me about the film; it was a wicked & dark-humored modern-day satire of the Dickens classic. Yet, it seemed stuck in the middle of its intentions, as if the script needed to be sharper. Over the years, the movie has grown on me, thanks largely to the comedic talent of Bill Murray. Playing nasty, cold-as-ice TV executive Frank Cross who is ultimately shown the light by "three spirits" & reforms himself in time on Christmas night, it's clear that Murray's having fun with the role. There's tons of guest starring roles in this film---too many to mention here, you'll just have to watch the movie---but Murray works his magic & hijacks the film with his performance.
For a comedy, it's an amazingly ambitious production. Co-scripted by late former SNL writer Mike O'Donoghue, "Scrooged" has its moments of wicked, ugly satire. Even during its most broadly slapstick moments, it's somewhat brutally sadistic (especially when Cross gets repeatedly clobbered by the pixie-ish but hands-on Ghost of Christmas Present, played with relish by Carol Kane). Its during its darkest that the film earns its PG-13 rating: Children might be frightened by the moldy ghost of Cross' old boss (John Forsythe), the traditionally scary Ghost of Christmas Future, and especially, Cross getting nearly cremated.
Viewers will either find the climactic monologue from Cross to "put a little love in your heart" engaging or annoying. But at its best, "Scrooged" is a satirical, occasionally dark tale of corrupt moral standards in the media, and a tale of finding one's heart.
Classic
2009-12-16 - This is one of the few great Christmas movies. Someone needs to make more great christmas movies!
Finally, Updated=Better
2009-12-16 - Summary: Frank Cross, the president of a television network(played by Bill Murray) leads the typical life of a scummy, self-obsessed businessman. On the eve that his television station is to broadcast a live filming of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Frank is visited by the three ghosts of Christmas, who proceed to pummel him emotionally, psychologically, and even physically, in order to teach him the true meaning of Christmas, and also how to sing really badly in front of a camera for a movie finale.
What About It: Yes, this is another Christmas movie where the character learns the error of his ways after looking into the past, present, and future of his life and those around him. Obviously, the film-makers weren't trying to hide the fact that this is a present day Christmas Carol: it functions as a plot device to keep the "day that Frank meets his destiny" rolling, and it works, maybe even better than the original. Although Frank, and all of the people around him, may think he's going crazy, the movie stays grounded enough to make it believable that Frank has not missed Christmas, and can begin to fix his life, starting with the little mute kid who finally starts talking.
The movie is cheesy, but in a good way. Everything Frank Cross does is obvious and schticky, but it's that comfort zone of knowing what's coming that allows the quirky parts of the film to be accepted. ("Niagara Falls, Frankie angel.")
The biggest nod in the movie goes to Bill Murray, of course, but not for acting ability alone. He shares the screen well with such talented under-the-radar actors and actresses such as Carol Kane, David Johansen, Karen Allen, and the illustrious Bobcat Goldthwait, to the point that you wonder why those stars haven't risen very high. Murray makes everyone around him better.
Comedy From Christmas Past
2009-12-14 - Bill Murray absolutely shines in this mega production of the Charles Dickens Scrooge Christmas Carol done in the fashion of high rise buildings, and it's corporated executives. Karen Allen give Bill his much needed parallel as the girlfriend he eventually let go to greed. Karen, by the way, is probably the most talented and exciting girlfriend to Scrooge character because she does more than fill the gap, she gives a performance to capture the lost love of which she was so apart of in the first place. The remaining cast cannot be commended enough with many cameos by famous celebrities, and stars of hollywood's past like Buddy Hackett as the television stage production's Scrooge.
Thankfully there are no musical numbers, but quite a few inventive skits and alternate scenes of a modern society with a real life Scrooge in the quise of head honcho Bill Murray. The score, however, is quite suitable for the comedic backdrops. Evidentlly, they spared no expense in this particular production right after the era of Christopher Reeve's Superman, and they both have the same look and charisma. A delightful motion picture that will have your head turning to the set.
As an added attraction, Bill Murray ends the movie by giving us all a mean spirited Christmas pep talk, which is actually meant for his own TV audience but transcends to ours. Kudos to the Eurythmics song finale!
