Scrooged (1988)

“I get it.  You’re taking me back in time to show me my mother and father, and I’m supposed to get all goosey and blubbery.  Well, forget it pal.  You’ve got the wrong guy.”

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Frank Cross has a problem:  Frank Cross.  The television industry’s youngest network executive attained his fame and fortune by exploiting those who stood in his way, those who surround him, even friends and family.  Fate is ready for a reckoning.

In what is by far the most novel, smart, and humourous interpretation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, director Richard Donner (Lethal Weapon, Superman) guides Bill Murray through Scrooged, a familiar template that is simultaneously self-aware and unconventional.

Neither the cliched Victorian plodding of its cinematic forebears, nor the shallow simplification of a hundred sitcom specials, Scrooged remains faithful while adding more pathos, a “love interest” that is legitimately interesting, and the wonky appeal of unusual casting.

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Please note:  This review is a placeholder “stub” intended for future revision.

Rated PG-13 for adult situations, language, substance use, and violence

100 minutes