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A Christmas Carol (2009) - A rather unpleasant take on the holiday classic

 

Another year has almost drawn it's final curtain, well... final thirty one curtains I guess. Anyway, last year for the Christmas movie review, I kinda cheated on technicality and reviewed the classic TV special, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, it was over 40 minutes, which by the standards of both the American Film Institute and British Film Institute, made it feature length, but I think this year, it would be a good idea to review something that is at least an hour long, and what better movie to look at than an adaptation of one of the most famous Christmas stories known to man, A Christmas Carol, specifically the 2009 movie starring Jim Carrey.

I've seen a couple adaptations of this famous story, I also have a copy of the book so this ain't my first rodeo, err... this isn't my first experience with this story. For anyone saying this story is about three ghosts bullying an old man into being less of a jerk... well, you're not wrong but that is a gross oversimplification of the story. Scrooge is given warning by the ghost of his business partner Jacob Marley that he will be visited by three spirits, the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet-to-Come. They each show him visions, each pertaining to the merry holiday and with a certain reason. The first shows him his past, and how it has affected his attitude towards others and the holiday, the second shows him the day of Christmas and the merry joys of it and how the people closest to him bare him no ill-will, and the third shows him the possible future and the potential consequences of his actions. That really is the simplest I can summarize the story. How does this movie handle the story? I'd give it a... B+, maybe an A- on a good day.

This unmistakably is A Christmas Carol, with many of the iconic scenes and lines from the book almost copy/pasted into the movie. That fact I can admonish because it really does show respect to the source material and the author, it even keeps that line that Ghost of Christmas Present has about men doing ill in his name, it's a bit that's cut out of most movies for some reason, probably because it criticizes a practice I believe has roots in one of the Christian sects, don't quote me as a source on that though. The fact the writers remembered little details like that is actually highly admirable, but what isn't admirable is everything else, specifically the stuff that wasn't from the book.

Really movie? A chase scene? Was the emotional turmoil of dealing with the possibility of people being apathetic at best to the lead character's death not investing enough? You need to add a chase scene? Why? This is the portion of the film that brings the darkest moments and emotional lows of the film, it doesn't need action scenes or thrilling transitions. Oh yeah, the transitions, you had such a great scene in the movie where Bob Cratchit walked away feigning strength for his family and just let it all out in front of Scrooge, showing him the pain and suffering he's going through, and how do we leave this scene? With the entire location being ripped away in a storm. Why why why? You were on the right track and then you derailed yourself, why why why?

On that same note, I really don't think the writers understood a lot of the story. In the opening bit, we see Scrooge walking through the town and everyone reacting to him. You get the impression people are afraid of him, which... is an interpretation sure, but it's the same kind of interpretation that makes Raphael the leader of the Ninja Turtles. People hated Scrooge, but I don't think they really feared him, he was a shrewd and jerky business man, not a street thug. However, I think my most hated change in the story was, admittedly a very small thing, you might have not even noticed it on your first or second watch, but it pisses me off on a critical level. My most hated thing about this adaptation's story is that Scrooge wasn't the one to wipe the snow off his grave. Yes, it seems small and nitpicky, but here's the thing; What is the point of this scene? That Scrooge is gonna die? Well, no duh, everyone dies. No, this is the scene where Scrooge finally realizes the consequences of his actions toward his fellow man, he dies alone, unloved and disrespected, he asks whose death brought so much joy to everybody, and the answer is on the gravestone; his own. In other adaptations of the story, him wiping the snow from his own name is the point that drives everything home. I think the difference can be best summed up in... and I can't believe I'm using this as an example but, the best way to sum up why this change pisses me off so much, is with a line from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

To loosely quote; "It is the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high."

Meaning, it's one character coming to the realization by himself and the other having the realization forced upon him. The difference may not mean much at the end of it all, but to me it makes all the difference.

The movie is also really, really unpleasant, not in the Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas way where it's engrossingly unpleasant, but also not in the Vanguard way where those movies are just entirely unpleasant to watch. The story can get unpleasant and dark at times, but seriously, this far is too far. Yes, it is sad to say goodbye to the Ghost of Christmas Present, but it's not traumatic, yes Scrooge and his nephew did argue, but it didn't feel very bitter and unfriendly. Yes, Scrooge does have to see his own name on his own grave, but it wasn't during a god damn blizzard. Honestly, I think this movie is too unpleasant at times, the joyful moments don't balance things out properly. We have The Ghost of Christmas Present, but he hits scrooge over the head with his torch, we have the Cratchit dinner scene, but Mrs. Cratchit laments wanting something better, this is all really dismal and depressing, as much as I admire the loyalty to the book, when it deviates, sometimes in even just the tiniest of ways, it's really does irritate me a little.

Whew, all that just for the story wow, well, let's get a few other quick points out of the way, just to cover all the points.

The characters were fine, but I really don't think Jim Carrey was a good choice for Scrooge, this is a role that was played by Alastair Sim, George C. Scott, Patrick Stewart, Michael Caine, Reginald Owen and so many other highly regarded alumni. Not that Jim Carrey isn't a great performer, nor did he turn in a bad performance, but this just wasn't a role for him. Maybe I could see him as a Ghost of Christmas Present, but not as Scrooge.

Animation wise, it was fine, this was one of the movies by ImageMovers Digital, but I don't think the animation was too bad, it was pleasing to the eye at points and very few movements looked wrong to me. I will say though, please do not superimpose an actors face onto an animated character, that was a sloppy job and it looked horrible. Also, there was so much flying in this movie I thought I was watching a How to Train Your Dragon film without dragons.

I'm really of two minds on this one. On the one hand, the book loyalty does make it a solid adaptation, and there really isn't much wrong with the movie on a technical level. It's just the changes they did, the thrilling chases and transitions, the endless flights, the unpleasantness of it all, the minor things it feels they didn't get right. I know I really shouldn't say all that makes this movie bad, because this movie isn't, it's just... Coraline... I didn't like that movie because of the changes it made from the book, this is another example of Coraline happening. However, unlike Coraline, there are so many other adaptations of this story out there. On some level, I do have to concede to there being only one adaptation of Coraline, so whether I like the movie or not, I'll have to settle for it. However, there are so many other, and better, versions of A Christmas Carol out there. The 1950s Alastair Sim version is really good as is the 1980s George C Scott version, but my absolute favourite is the 1990s Muppets version, it is legit one of my all-time favourite movies, top twenty hands down. I don't think I can recommend this one, on some level I can, but it's the same level I can recommend the previous three that I mentioned, so no, I don't recommend this one. I highly recommend the Alastair Sim and George C Scott versions, and I ONLY recommend The Muppet version with the "When Love is Gone" scene included, find it on VHS if you must, that is the best version of the movie. As for this one, I'd recommend it once if you haven't seen it before. It isn't a bad movie, just... not one I really enjoyed.