Home > Fantasy >

Scrooged

Watch Now

Scrooged (1988)

November. 22,1988
|
6.9
|
PG-13
| Fantasy Drama Comedy
Watch Now

Frank Cross is a wildly successful television executive whose cold ambition and curmudgeonly nature has driven away the love of his life. But after firing a staff member on Christmas Eve, Frank is visited by a series of ghosts who give him a chance to re-evaluate his actions and right the wrongs of his past.

...

Watch Trailer

Cast

Similar titles

Reviews

Actuakers
1988/11/22

One of my all time favorites.

More
GazerRise
1988/11/23

Fantastic!

More
Beanbioca
1988/11/24

As Good As It Gets

More
Intcatinfo
1988/11/25

A Masterpiece!

More
sddavis63
1988/11/26

You can call this my "Christmas in July" moment. I had recorded this movie way back on Christmas Eve of last year and somehow never got around to watching it. (Nor had I ever seen it before actually.) Discovering it among my recordings this morning, I thought - why not? So I turned it on. I loved the closing credit: "Suggested by Charles Dickens." Yes - a "suggestion" probably comes closest. Nothing more. It's a modern retelling of "A Christmas Carol," starring Bill Murray as the "Scrooge" character (although in this, he's Francis Xavier Cross) - the completely mean-spirited head of a television network who's putting on what seems to be a very adult-oriented live version of Dickens' classic, forcing everyone to work on Christmas Eve and promoting it with some of the weirdest promos ever. He treats the network staff terribly, gives cheap towels with the network logo as Christmas bonuses, and fires one executive while making his assistant's life miserable. He's Scrooge, in other words. I find it amusing that some criticize this movie because Cross is mean. Um - he's Scrooge. He's supposed to be mean.All the elements of Dickens' story are there. The characters all have their own incarnations. There's a Marley's Ghost, and three spirits, and a Cratchit (well, really the above mentioned two) and a Tiny Tim and even a past love interest for Cross. One change to the story is that in this Cross has a boss of his own to deal with and who he feels unfairly treated by.Murray was fine in the role of Cross. The supporting cast ranged all the way from Buddy Hackett (as Scrooge in the IBC network's fictional adaptation) to John Forsythe as Cross's boss. Aside from Murray, the most memorable performance probably came from Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present, who was actually quite funny. The movie has an opening that certainly captures your attention - a shootout scene involving Santa Claus in his workshop at the North Pole - and that makes you wonder what the *** is going on here? It ends obviously with the account of Cross's redemption, although to be honest that struck me as way too over the top even for this movie and left me on a bit of a sour note. I did enjoy the rendition of "Put A Little Love In Your Heart" that played during the closing credits. People seem to have either a love it or hate it reaction to "Scrooged." I don't really get the extremes. It's not a Christmas movie that I could see myself wanting to watch every December (or every July) but it was pleasant enough viewing as a one time thing and it had a few chuckles thrown in. (5/10)

More
Byrdz
1988/11/27

I really like Bill Murray. Usually. But then .. he usually has been in films that I liked...Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters, Tootsie ... GOOD movies.Scrooged is NOT a "good movie. It is a mish-mashed mess of "spoof", "re-telling", "modern take on" etc etc and for me it just did not work.It started out a little promising with John Forsythe in Marley Mode (he turns up again as a Fezziwig clone only with smarmy overtones). The scene where he puts Frank through the window is the one scene that was pretty impressive and actually funny.The ghosts were obnoxious. The Ghost of Christmas Present (Carol Kane) beating up Frank was overdone and pointless. Actually the whole film was.Other reviews have called it a "classic" and their favorite version of the Dicken's tale. IMO, they are sadly wrong.

More
Movie_Muse_Reviews
1988/11/28

"Scrooged" is one of the few '80s and early '90s Bill Murray films I didn't grow up with, but even as an outsider coming to the film nearly 30 years later, it's clearly vintage Murray and was obviously paved the way for "Groundhog Day," one of my favorite films of all time.A take on Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," Murray stars as a selfish and soulless television executive who gets a slap in the face (literally, in several instances) from the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. No new revelations come out of this adaptation of the annual Yuletide cautionary tale, but it does hold up as a classic '80s slapstick interpretation.Murray has always done despicable characters in lovable ways and Frank Cross is no exception. He's hilariously smug and manages to wink directly at the camera without ever actually doing so, a rare gift among comedic actors. The character is downright lousy, but the clever way that the movie transitions to and especially from the ghost sequences allow us to have much-needed laughs at Frank's expense. The camera tricks and written physical humor that separate the real and "ghost" worlds are easily the highlight of the non-Murray aspects of the film. Director Richard Donner, hot off "The Goonies" and the first "Lethal Weapon" at this point in his career, shows a deft hand with comedy, but it's the fantastical elements of the movie that work the best. A creepy '80s fantasy-adventure vibe whenever the ghost sequences come about transforms the movie into something a little more magical.Although it could be funnier, the only true failing of "Scrooged" is that it butchers the classic redemptive arc of its main character. Writers Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue nail the cheeky, alternative riff on what's a rather prim and proper story, but Cross' transformation doesn't hit the emotional notes. Because Dickens' tale is one of the most formula-driven stories of all time, it's easy to spot how Cross will redeem himself well before it happens. That requires the components of the story that we don't know at the onset – who Cross is and to what lengths he's a mean person – to be stronger and draw us in. They don't. The movie gets lost in the comedy stylings of Bill Murray and never roots itself in the basic yet critical tenants of the "Christmas Carol" story. Although many scenes help humanize Frank, he doesn't change all that much until the end, and it falls flat because we don't believe it."Scrooged" (and "Christmas Vacation") will always have the market cornered on Christmas movies from the late '80s. Among that classification, it can be rightfully labeled a classic. But there are better Murray comedies and better comedies from that era period. That said, the way Murray's career dramatically changed at the turn of the century leaves films in which he played the comic lead all too few, and "Scrooged" is one of the few opportunities to treasure it.~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

More
adonis98-743-186503
1988/11/29

Frank Cross runs a US TV station which is planning a live adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol. Frank's childhood wasn't a particularly pleasant one, and so he doesn't really appreciate the Christmas spirit. With the help of the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, Frank realizes he must change. Scrooged has a bit of Tim Burton theme in it except the beautiful score by Danny Elfman and an amazing and moving performance by Bill Murray. The movie also has an excellent use of practical effects and they looked so realistic and great in the small screen it also has a very sad ending that really brought tears to my eyes and that's why i'm gonna give Richard Donner's Scrooged an 10/10.

More