“Scrooged” (1988) Review
Written by Victor DeBonis
“Scrooged” is a film that came out around 1988, but it has found a greater place in my heart over the years through how unique it is as a movie, especially when it comes to other cinematic re-tellings of “A Christmas Carol.” Late-great director Richard Donner’s movie is humorous, frightening, and, somehow, still reveling in the spirit of what makes the original story so beloved but also standing tall as a dark comedy that knows where its heart beats.
Bill Murray is marvelous as a sleazy executive of a television channel, and, before the ghosts show up, he makes no apologies for how selfish he is. What keeps him fascinating as a character is that, even if the audience doesn’t know what he has coming for him, he has hilarious reactions and lines to what he observes. Murray physically shudders and rolls his eyes from being dumbfounded at how frustrated or scared he is, and, when he gets a humanitarian award, he delivers his acceptance speech with apparent boredom, as though it’s simply something that he’s entitled to have. He acts deviously, but there is always a sense that he’s trying to hide why he’s miserable underneath. One notices it when he flashes back to his past and sees what is going on, presently. He effectively shows the humane side of himself when he pauses in shock to reflect on how happy he was with his past girlfriend or how much he hurts from witnessing the few joyous moments of his miserable past life.
There’s a good reason why Murray was such a big comedy star during this time. For all of his sarcasm and snappy comebacks to people, he held the humanity and subtle charm as well that made others connect to his presence, and that is seen in this movie in spades.
It’s also worth noting what a brilliant choice it is to make the “Scrooge” in this movie a vicious studio executive. When one thinks about how cynical some executives from a higher power are or how they can do decisions that serve more for their own self-centered interests instead of others, this film also serves as a tale that delivers great commentary and even satire on the power that a corporation or corporate-feeling place can have and how its authority gets abused, sometimes in the most inexplicable ways.
The commercials for the channel are unapologetically chaotic and absurd. They’re similar to the fake trailers from “Tropic Thunder” in that no sane mind would allow these types of ads to air in the real world, but it would be amazing to see someone crazy or determined enough to bring these types of specials to full life just to see what the outcome is.
As great as Murray is in this, the character actors in this movie are equally excellent. Some characters can be somewhat annoying. The Ghost of Christmas Present, for example, can be funny at points but is a little over-the-top with how much the character shivers and raises the voice to oddly high-pitched volumes a bit too much. Also, while Bobcat Goldthwait is effective in playing a dorky employee who never seems to catch a break, his voice does get grating after a while, and there’s a whole sequence involving him and Murray around the third act that could’ve easily been cut without missing anything.
I do admire the Ghost of Christmas Past in this film to such a high degree. A bunch of creativity is involved with him through how he’s this wicked, tobacco-chomping cab driver whose way of transporting to previous times comes from the numbers that record the factor being replaced by numbers dialing back to a specific year in time. If this element wasn’t in some way influenced by the DeLorean from “Back to the Future” I’d be very surprised, and it’s such a cool idea. His raspy voice and his devil-like grin gleams with character. The Ghost of Christmas Past is a delightfully devious concoction in this film, and the actor playing him brings that to life in splendid form.
Alfre Woodward terrifically plays Grace Cooley (the female Bob Cratchit of this movie if you will) and, as opposed to previous versions of this story, speaks out and lets her self-centered employer read a bit of her frustration while believably playing a loving mother who is tolerating her job to bring enough money to look after her large family on her own. Brian Doyle-Murray isn’t in the film long, but he leaves an impact in his brief moment as a neglectful, insulting father who planted a seed to help inspire the main character’s future ugliness.
The other character actor that is amazing is Karen Allen as Bill’s former girlfriend. I’ve seen a few other nicer girlfriends in this movie who appear sweet but are written too bland. In “Scrooged” her kindness genuinely radiates. She has nice eyes that gleam with understanding. The girlfriend has a decent background of working in shelters where people with bad financial situation try to find solace. Plus, she will have moments when she argues with Bill about why he is the way that he is, and the audience sees and feels the hurt that she is in and how it affects Murray, even if he tries to cover it up. Much of the heart from “Scrooged” comes from her performance, and it also helps that she and Murray have wonderful chemistry off of each other. The moment in which Murray and Allen are spending Christmas together is a great scene that radiates with all of the playfulness and sincerity that comes from a loving couple, and it lends additional bittersweetness to when the Scrooge of this film ponders over what he has lost and could end up losing for good if he doesn’t go in a different direction.
Danny Elfman composed the score for “Scrooged” and, similar to “Batman Returns” he plays a vital role in setting the haunting atmosphere that make for a great, dark Christmas movie. The scene in which Bill meets the Marley of this version in the form of the main character’s deceased best friend, Lew Hayward, works wonderfully in part because of the chilling score that plays in the background. That’s not to mention all of the other details that lead to this movie’s inventiveness.
As mentioned before, the director of the film is Richard Donner. Earlier, this year, Donner passed away, and it still hurts me like crazy to know that such an imaginative visionary is gone. Spielberg once said something along the lines of how Donner consisted of all heart and all enthusiasm all of the time, and you can feel that creativity and energy in so much of his work, whether it was “Lethal Weapon” or the original “Omen” or, yes, one of the gold-standard superhero films, 1978’s “Superman.”
That child-like enthusiasm and wonder is here in spades, too, through the creativity of how the classic “Christmas Carol” story is reimagined with the New York City setting and all of the details that some may look over. The scary moments are effectively handled, such as when Murray is shown his fate towards the end of how his future will turn out if he keeps going this path. I won’t spoil it here for those who have watched it, but I was widening my eyes with how Murray is forced, head-first, into exploring what his consequences might be. There’s the level of detail with the sets and even the bizarre commercials for the channel. Even the design of aforementioned Hayward is great. The make-up effects for his character are amazing. All of that dustiness and how deceased he appears and the little sight of that mouse crawling on the side of his head is both hilarious and somewhat disturbing, and I just love the energy and effort that was placed in details, such as this.
At the time that this movie was first released, it was met with a fairly mixed response with many critics either citing the movie as too dark or too sentimental. The production itself was reportedly a small nightmare where Donner and Murray sometimes had trouble working with each other as well as Murray and even one of the screenwriters having issues with the final product in retrospect. Despite all of these issues, however, “Scrooged” would later find its footing as a cult Christmas classic with more and more people viewing it on television and many regarding it as an underrated film for around this time of year.
As for me, personally, I love this movie from start to finish. The acting is great. The direction is wonderful and shows more of what a great talent Donner was and how much of a loss to filmmaking it is that he’s no longer around. The creativity is on full-display from the make-up effects to the contributions of the actors to the unique changes for this version of the story. Every time that I re-visit this movie, I find something new to appreciate, and, for all of the problems that came from the production and initial reception, I’m amazed that the product turned out as great as it is.
Much like “Batman Returns” “Scrooged” is a darker Christmas movie that didn’t get the best reception when it was first released but has gained more of a love and appreciation over the years from many fans. It has that same dose of spirit and hopefulness that many movies around this time year consist of but also carries a dark edge and sense of humor that makes the journey of discovering more of that for one’s self interesting.
To those looking for something that still contains all of that heart and Christmas spirit but also contains a good deal of scares and imagination and something a little darker than what you’re used to, look no further than this delightfully dark Christmas comedy.
It’s frighteningly great.
Have a Merry Christmas, everyone!
Grade: A