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Scrooged | Year: 1988 Classification: Comedy Directed: - Richard Donner Actors/Actresses: - Bill Murray - Karen Allen "What about my bonus?" "Towel or a facecloth?" In 1988, Richard Donner (who directed the 1976 horror film "The Omen", the 1978 film "Superman" and all four "Lethal Weapon" films between 1987 and 1998) directed the hilarious film "Scrooged", which is a modernized remake of the classic Charles Dickens' short story "A Christmas Carol". The film stars the well-known actor/comedian Bill Murray as Francis 'Frank' Xavier Cross, the "Ebenezer Scrooge" character of the film. Frank is a high-rolling, power-hungry, penny-pinching TV executive who decides to produce a live version of the classic "A Christmas Carol" on his TV station on Christmas Eve. His secretary, Grace Cooley (Alfre Woodard), is the "Bob Cratchit" of the story. With several children to raise, including her seemingly autistic son Calvin (Nicholas Phillips)--the "Tiny Tim" of the story, Grace has no choice but to begrudgingly work for Frank underpaid and under appreciated. When Frank's boss, Preston Rhinelander (Robert Mitchum, 1917-1997), decides that Frank needs as assistant, the brown-nosing Bryce Cummings (John Glover), Frank becomes extremely jealous; but Frank's problems are only beginning when the ghost of a former coworker, Lou Hayward (John Forsythe), pays him a visit. There are many memorable scenes in the film including Frank reliving part of his childhood with the taxi-driving Ghost of Christmas Past (David Johansen), Frank reliving meeting his former girlfriend Claire Phillips (Karen Allen) who works in a homeless shelter, Frank seeing his brother James Cross (played by Bill Murray's actual brother, John Murray) and his family celebrating Christmas with the hilarious Ghost of Christmas Present (Carol Kane), Frank being terrorized by a fired employee Eliot Loudermilk (Bobcat Goldthwait), Frank meeting the Ghost of Christmas Future (Chaz Conner, Jr.), Frank thinking that a waiter is on fire, the various accidents that the TV censor (Kate McGregor-Stewart) endures, and the ending scenes. Several cameo appearances include Jamie Farr, Robert Goulet, Buddy Hackett, John Houseman, Lee Majors, Pat McCormick and Mary Lou Retton (who Frank wants to portray his TV "Tiny Tim"). There is no way to know whether Charles Dickens (1812-1870) would like this modern remake of his classic story, but I believe that he would love the fact that his story remains just as powerful, entertaining and inspiring today as it was when it was first published in 1843. Overall, I rate "Scrooged" with 5 out of 5 stars for its superb use of poetic license, great humor, engaging plot and wonderful dialog. It has become a Yuletide classic itself that I never tire of watching each year. Good Christmas movie - bad any other time I watched this at Christmas, but if I'd watched it any other time, I definitely wouldn't have enjoyed it. Its just those certain movies you can't watch at certain times - like watching a romcom on Valentine's, not a good idea. Unfortunately, I found this slow to start with. Too long an introduction to Frank Cross (Bill Murray) as the grumpy TV producer person. It really kicked off when the first of the three ghosts appeared - and I found myself reliving my childhood! I loved this book by Charles Dickens as a child, although I was a bad girl, and always skipped to the bit where the ghosts started appearing. I could have done with a skipper on this movie too. The lovely Karen Allen appears as Frank Cross' ex-girlfriend. I had trouble placing her face, and had to ask - and got the response with a big sigh. I loved her in Starman, and she was great in this movie. The thing about Karen Allen is she has a really nice smile, and makes me want to smile too! I haven't seen her in enough films. The big singsong was brilliant at the end, and was the highlight of the film for me. Keep watching the credits too, for an extra short bit of Bill Murray doing a little dance. If you have or want this DVD, don't watch it until the run-up to Christmas. Definitely not one you can watch any other time - unlike A Mom For Christmas (Olivia Newton John, which I think was another TV movie!). I can watch that anytime, and still cry! A cult classic. I usually bring my sister wherever in the world I am at Christmas time. She knows I have a copy of Scrooged, but she brings one of her own anyway...full redundancy. This movie is hilarious on every level. It's chock full of obvious simple humor, but you can "dive deep" for humor at almost any point in time and find some unique absurdity that must have had the writer laughing his a@# off at the time of writing. I've you've never seen...well, don't wait for Christmas, get at once. Enjoy... Buy Scrooged at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Scrooged Search with the Priority Search Engine on Scrooged This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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