Fantômes en fête

I just finished watching this film (on TNT) for the countless time. What a fine seasonal offering. It's so much better than a lot of the pulp and smarmy c*** that passes for Christmas classics.

Bill Murray exclaims at the end of the movie, "I get it now!" Apparently, some folks watched this flick and didn't get it. The movie is essentially a star turn for Murray, who's in almost every frame - and that's fine with me because he can carry a film. Trivial quibbles over the movie's name and reference to the original work, the lack of faithfulness to the book and other complaints miss the point of the project. While staging a production of 'A Christmas Carol,' a TV executive experiences the very same circumstances as one of the characters in the novel. That alone makes it work. A few reviews question the overall harsh tone of the movie, or more specifically, Murray's role. Frankly, I would not have minded had it been even a little darker. There's a lot of water to carry in that bucket of trying to measure the callous and thoughtless manner in which some folks act on all but the most treasured of holidays. Murray's demeanour boils it down into one strong mean spirit and evaporates it with a truly positive and well-wishing finale.

Scrooged is, along with Groundhog Day, among his best work.

This is a modern take on the classic Christmas story about Ebeneezer Scrooge from the story A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. To say that there was a lot of creative license taken here would be an understatement, but that does not detract from the fact that this is a great social comment on how commercialized Christmas has become. Bill Murray plays Frank Cross, a television network head that is trying to put on a live version of A Christmas Carol. He is driving his people like slaves and even tells someone to staple antlers to a mouse because they would not stay. He fires a member of his team on Christmas Eve for disagreeing with something he said. He has led a life of greed and cut off anyone that stood in his way, including his brother. That night he is payed a visit from fours ghosts, the first being his mentor, followed by the ghost of Christmas past, present and future. I am sure you are all familiar with the telling of this story. David Johnson and Carol Kane as the ghost of past and present respectively, steal the show. This is a great movie and should be enjoyed by all, every year.

...not quite , but his performance in Scrooged isnt far behind omnipitancy. With exception to Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day, this is probably one of his most hilarious performances to date. In this re-working of Dickens "A Christmas Carol" , Murray plays Frank Cross, a tight fisted,selfish Network Executive who, as christmas rapidly approaches, finds himself needing to hasten up proceedings on his networks live Christmas Carol show, which is airing on Christmas eve. From the very start of the film, we are treated to how unkind and selfish, Murrays character really is, yet we still cant bring ourselves to hate him.....even when he suggests to a prop man that he should STAPLE little plastic antlers to the heads of door-mice.

Due to a very creepy encounter with his dead boss, Cross is warned that he will be visited by 3 ghosts, and so the story takes off, as he meets 3 very unusual ghosts with even weirder traits, such as the ghost of christmas present, who likes to randomly beat Cross up, every time he shows no heart. Best of all is the NOO YAWK talkin taxi driver, who i feel almost steals the show from Murray ....which is one of the hardest things in the world!!!

Running throughout the film, is, ...sadly, a rather weak sub plot of Cross and his ex-lover, which , i love for all the wrong reasons.....but sadly, to people who have never seen the film, might find a bit tedious.

But of course....its Murray who comes away from this looking cool, as , even though he has experienced some genuinely scary things ( the halucination of a waiter on fire is still creepy), we lap up his dead pan reactions to it all!!

Well, Christmas is almost upon us again. So I'm going to comment on a view Festive films. Starting with Scrooged:

I personally enjoyed this film, but after reading other user's comments on here for the movie, I guess you either Love it or Hate it.

Why do people get so serious about a movie ? Its just a comedy that pokes a little fun at the Dickens classic.

They mention that Murray's character of Frank Cross was hateful, spiteful, nasty, horrible etc. etc. ... That was the whole idea!! (You wouldn't have had a movie if he wasn't those things). Scrooge in the novel was horrible, spiteful, nasty, etc. etc.

Scrooged is funny, but it does hit on a few serious notes also. Especially when Frank is visited by Carol Kane's Ghost of Christmas Present.

Scrooged is the type of movie that no-one will ever agree on. They have their opinions, and I have mine.

I love it. The bit at the end where Bill Murray finally realizes what Christmas is really all about, is quite moving as he talks directly to the viewers about it. Then when the cast break into song, Murray urges the Cinema audience to join in with them. The cinema we went to, did! It was a great atmosphere with the cinema singing along with the cast. And it was near Christmas too, which made it all that little bit more special :o)

Scrooged must be watched every Christmas. Bill Murray is in top form in this movie. He makes a great Scrooge in his selfish TV exec Frank Cross. This movie manages to never be boring and instead keeps you laughing throughout. The classic story of A Christmas Carol is well updated for these modern times and turned into a well thought out comedy. The supporting cast makes for a memorable and funny cast of characters, especially the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. Murray is the jewel of this film and he never fails to turn in a great performance. Bottom Line: You need to watch this at least every Christmas. It's a nice family comedy.