Ah Christmas time… a time for cheer, booze, presents, and the good old story of Ebenezer Scrooge. But after almost 200 years of hearing the same story over and over again, things can become a bit stale. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where Bill Murray comes in and brings a little Christmas cheer, and laughs, to all.
Scrooged tells the story of Frank Cross (Bill Murray), a modern day Scrooge, who by a chance of fate is in charge of producing a live version of A Christmas Carol. While he may have found great success in his career, he has become cold towards all, and it’s up to the Ghosts of the Holiday (David Johansen and Carol Kane) to bring a little Christmas “spirit” (pun intended) back into his life.
This movie has been a Christmas tradition in my household, and it’s a down right crime it isn’t in more.
The movie is near perfect — hilarious dialogue, amazing chemistry between characters, and outstanding comical performances produced by the man, the myth, the legend himself, Bill Murray.
To start, the writing is just simply great. The writers appeared to know how much material to write for Murray, and how much to let him just do what he does. The supporting characters were also written perfectly, with the Ghost of Christmas Past (Johansen) stealing every scene he was in with Murray. While most retellings of A Christmas Carol can fall short when it comes to supporting characters, mostly giving reference to Tiny Tim and the Ghosts, but in this film the writers took great liberty and making the supporting players fresh and funny, while still sticking to the good old story of Ebenezer Scrooge.
However this movie wouldn’t have been anything if it weren’t for good old Saint Vincent…I mean Bill Murray.
The man is a genius in this film. His lines flowed perfectly with every scene, and the delivery in which he executed his performance was flawless. Murray is a professional when it comes to comedy, but retelling a holiday classic doesn’t always spell success for some of the greats in comedy, just ask Jim Carrey, but Murray makes it work effortlessly.
He makes the modern day character of Scrooge aka Frank Cross a loveable, yet horrible man who even through it all you want to root for. Plus it doesn’t hurt that Murray is one hell of a hilarious actor. With Murray, it was like he was born to play this character, giving Scrooge himself a little more cheer during the holiday season.
While the writing and Murray make the movie, the chemistry Murray shares with his costars is undeniable. His scenes with the Ghost of Christmas Past, easily the best part of the film, are filled with chemistry due to the off screen friendship Murray had with Johansen. Murray also shared great chemistry with Kane, who played the Ghost of Christmas present, and Karen Allen who plays his love interest in the film. Every scene Murray shares with the supporting cast is great, they all look like they are having a blast making the film and that truly does make or break a movie.
Special mention to Bobcat Goldthwait, who plays one of Frank Cross’s employees who is down on his luck, oddly twisted, and oddly funny at the same time.
All in all Scrooged is a holiday classic to me and always will be in my family. With its perfect casting, line delivery, writing, and amazing performance from the legend himself Bill Murray, the movie brings holiday cheer anytime of the year. So grab some popcorn, possibly some hot coco too, enjoy the movie, and Bah Humbug to you.
If you want to make Scrooged part of your holiday collection, click here.
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Laura Dengrove is the one of youngest members of the Pop-Break staff and is a critic for television/movies of all types on Pop-Break. She’s in her first year at college where she will be studying to obtain her bachelors degree at Rutgers University for Journalism/Public Relations. She was the editor for the Arts and Entertainment section of her school newspaper, runs her own blog (Pop Culture Darling), and interns for Design New Jersey. She also has an in-depth knowledge about all things True Blood and an avid Eric and Sookie shipper.
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