Patrick Stewart was a hit on Broadway with his one man version of A Christmas Carol, so it was with great anticipation that I greeted the news that he would be appearing in a film version as Ebenezer Scrooge.
Unfortunately the made for TV movie broadcast on TNT in 1999 did not live up to expectations. Stewart's performance is mixed. In early scenes he is a wry, sardonic Scrooge, who sees himself as a wise man for his frugality. During the scenes with the spirits, especially with Jacob Marley his performance is flat, he doesn't seem to express the awe and terror one would have if a ghost showed up in your drawing room. He is redeemed by his performance in the final part of the movie. His Scrooge transformed is a joy to behold.
The small budget shows itself in the streets of London. It definitely feels like a studio set. All the ghost perform well except the ghost of Christmas future. For some reason the film makers made him look like an over sized Jawa from Star Wars. The special effects appear as low budget as they are. The best were used by the Ghost of Christmas past (Joel Gray), while the Ghost of Christmas present used a cyclone effect to travel.
The script stays fairly close to Charles Dickens's book with a few improvisations and a couple of revisions of more modern words. They included the various trips Scrooge and Christmas present make to the far reaches of the globe, but for some reason the screen writer left out the scene where Scrooge encounters the two men seeking charitable donations Christmas morning.
This is not the best version of A Christmas Carol, but it's worth a look.
At The Movie House **1/2 stars
1 comment:
This was one of the weaker versions, good review...how about that musical one with George Castanza, made for TV...that was horrendous
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