It’s a big-budget film in its day packed out with major star, Bill Murray, and an attractive concept. This film is a modern version of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol. Updated to a TV studio we see Murray has a cynical TV executive who schedules a live Christmas Eve broadcast of A Christmas Carol.
Murray plays Frank Cross, a Scrooge-type TV executive who's very cross on his employees, doesn't really care too much about the holiday season, and only cares about ratings. When he goes too far by forcing all his workers to host a live telecast of A Christmas Carol, Cross, like Scrooge, is haunted by three extremely freaky ghosts who show him the error of his ways and redeem himself before it's too late.
Scrooged also features David Johanson as the humorous cab-driving Ghost of Christmas Past, Carol Kane as the sugar-plum fairy Ghost of Christmas Present, Karen Allen as Murray's former love interest, and there's a ton of celebrity cameos in here as well, from Buddy Hackett, Robert Mitchum, John Forsyth, and Mary Lou Retton. Director Richard Donner, brilliantly succeeds in making A Christmas Carol a dark comedy.
Some moments, such as some of the ghost visuals, do come out as corny, and Bill Murray is a little obnoxious in places, especially in the beginning, but it's Murray that makes Scrooged the fun film it is. I cracked at his facial reactions when the ghosts show up and the jokes are simply hilarious (such as "This will scare the Dickens out of you.") Surprisingly, the film also manages to have a little holiday heart in it towards the end, which surprised me most in a dark comedy.
This film can be cheesy, but with the original approach to a classic Christmas tale and Bill Murray's entertaining performance, Scrooged is a fun little comedy filled with pure fun and heart.
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