Scrooged
There is nothing like the telling of the Christmas Carol to warm your cockles this very merry season. Charles Dickens’ classic romp through the Yuletide festivities has always been a moral backbone that we have rested our spirits (three of them, to be exact) on this story. Capturing the essence of giving and thinking about those around them, this tale is swamped by an amazing amount of adaptations that range of The Muppets phenomenal one to television shows such as Blackadder showcasing their own version. Naturally, if you wanted to juxtapose the Christmas spirit against the backdrop of the eighties Yuppie culture, than Bill Murray in all his sarcastic stoic glory is the man to do the job.
Richard Donner, more acclaimed for the first Superman movie, The Goonies and The Omen had lifted Dickens’ Victorian tale and placed it in the heart of the money hungry era that saw the rise of the Wall Street stock market. Scrooged sees powerful television executive Frank Cross produce a Christmas Day live special that recants the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, a peculiar character that mirrors the personality of Cross and the world he has built. As he powers forward with the cruel production (which sees his colleagues and employees giving up their holidays), he starts to “hallucinate” three spirits that appear before him – to aide him in seeing the err of his ways.
Whilst Donner’s movie was received with critical lamenting on first release, it has quickly become a favourite to watch this season. The chaotic set, the terrific costumes and the change in time period terrifically brings the famous story into an updated setting. Though we are nearly thirty years since its first release, the ultimately eighties film works better now because of the nostalgia in a movie that truly captured the theme of modernised decadence and vapid commercialism. Scrooged, though hyperactive and can lag into lacklustre at times, is brimming with this grimy over the top visuals that set a tone and crazily goes along with it. It’s a little mad-happed, with the special effects going overboard with Cross’ “hallucinations” but it adds something to the re-telling
The enormous characters rival the set pieces and bring to light a bleak version of the era in similar respects to Trading Places (but, albeit, with a lot less heart). Core to the movies success is Bill Murray as the sardonic Frank Cross. This is undeniably perfect casting as the abash Murray fills the tight boots of Scrooge excellently. He is able to effectively act through crazed moments to the more realistic. He absorbs you into the tale and makes you follow this journey, ever enthralled. Murray makes Scrooged a fantastic film, pulling it from its caper-esque elements.
Though Donner’s direction, narrative and aesthetic may not work for some audiences and sometimes, it may jut out against the rest of the festive viewing, Scrooged works. Because it is astutely aware and nuanced in its re-telling, a character stepped in hollow monetary and power gains works for the better. Helped along by Murray’s charm and presence, a talented man who has gripped a lot of our black comedies with his cynical comments. Scrooged is definitely a film to watch if you are feeling the backlash of colourful and tinsel laden Christmas gifts.