A Christmas Carol is a 2009 film adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 story of the same name. The film is written and directed by Robert Zemeckis, and stars Jim Carrey in a multitude of roles, including Ebenezer Scrooge as a young, middle-aged, and old man, and three of the ghosts who haunt Scrooge.
The 3-D film was produced through the process of performance capture, a technique Zemeckis has previously used in his films The Polar Express (2004) and Beowulf (2007).
A Christmas Carol began filming in February 2008, and was released on November 4, 2009 by Walt Disney Pictures. It received its world premiere in London, coinciding with the switching on of the annual Oxford Street and Regent Street Christmas lights, which in 2009 had a Dickens theme.
The film was released in Disney Digital 3-D and IMAX 3-D. It is also Disney's third retelling of A Christmas Carol in 26 years, having released Mickey's Christmas Carol in 1983 (using the in-house Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck characters) and later distributing The Muppet Christmas Carol for Jim Henson Productions in 1992, with Disney later acquiring the rights to The Muppets from Jim Henson Productions. The film also marks Jim Carrey's first role in a Disney film.
Plot
On Christmas Eve in Victorian England, Ebenezer Scrooge, a bitter and miserly old moneylender, holds everything that embodies the joys and spirit of Christmas in contempt, refusing to visit his cheerful nephew Fred's Christmas dinner party with his family, and forcing his underpaid employee Bob Cratchit to beg to take the day off for his own family. That night, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley, who had died seven years prior on Christmas Eve and is now forced to spend his afterlife carrying heavy chains forged from his own greedy ways. Marley warns Scrooge that he will suffer an even worse fate if he doesn't repent, and foretells that he will be haunted by three spirits that will help guide him.
The first spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Past, shows Scrooge visions of his own past that take place on or around the Christmas season, reminding him of how he ended up the avaricious man he is now. He had spent much of his childhood neglected by his father over the holidays at boarding school until he was finally brought home by his loving sister Fan, who died prematurely after giving birth to his nephew, Fred. Scrooge later began a successful career in business and moneylending and became engaged to a woman named Belle, though she later called off the engagement when he began to grow obsessed with accumulating his own wealth. Unable to bear having to witness these events again, Scrooge extinguishes the spirit.
The second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, shows Scrooge the happiness of his fellow men on Christmas Day. Among them are his nephew, Fred, who playfully makes jokes with his family at Scrooge's expense, and Bob Cratchit and his family, who are just barely able to make do with what little pay Scrooge gives Cratchit. The Cratchits also tend to a sickly young son, Tiny Tim, whose commitment to the spirit of Christmas touches Scrooge, who is dismayed to learn from the spirit that he may not have much longer to live. Before the spirit vanishes, it warns Scrooge about the evils of Ignorance and Want, showing them as terrifying, uncivilized children doomed to grow into savage, despicable individuals.
The third and final spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, shows Scrooge the final consequences of his greed. Tiny Tim has died, leaving the Cratchits to mourn him on Christmas. Scrooge has also died, though there is more comfort than grief in the wake of his funeral. In addition, Fred finds benefit from inheriting his wealth, and Scrooge is even robbed by his former maid. Unwilling to let this grim future come to pass, Scrooge begs to be given a second chance as the spirit forces him into his deep and empty grave leading all the way to Hell.
Scrooge awakens to find himself in his bed on Christmas morning, the three spirits having guided him over the course of one night, and immediately sets out to atone for his sins, making donations to the poor, attending Fred's dinner party, and giving Cratchit a raise to care for his family, allowing Tiny Tim to live. Scrooge spends the remainder of his life a new man embodying the spirit of Christmas itself.
Cast
- Jim Carrey as:
- Ebenezer Scrooge , the main character of the film. He is a cold-hearted, tight fisted, greedy man, who despises Christmas and all things which engender happiness.
- Ghost of Christmas Past , the first of the three spirits that haunt Scrooge in order to prompt him to repent. It shows Scrooge scenes from his past that occurred on or around Christmas, in order to demonstrate to him the necessity of changing his ways.
- Ghost of Christmas Present , the second of the three spirits, who shows Scrooge the happiness of his nephew's middle-class social circle and the impoverished Cratchit family.
- Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come , the third of the three spirits, who shows Scrooge the final consequences of his lifestyle if he doesn't change his ways.
- Gary Oldman as:
- Jacob Marley , a former business partner of Scrooge. Having been dead for seven years prior to the events of the film, he visits Scrooge as a ghost and warns him of the three spirits that will confront him about his demeanor.
- Bob Cratchit , the abused, underpaid clerk of Scrooge.
- Tiny Tim , Cratchit's youngest son. He is voiced over by Ryan Ochoa.
- Cary Elwes as:
- Portly Gentleman #1 , a man who requests from Scrooge a donation to those less fortunate
- Dick Wilkins , Scrooge's old roommate
- Mad Fiddler
- Colin Firth as Fred , Scrooge's optimistic nephew and only living relative.
- Bob Hoskins as:
- Mr. Fezziwig , the proprietor of a warehouse business for whom Scrooge worked as an apprentice.
- Old Joe , a fence who buys the belongings of the deceased Scrooge from a thief who previously worked for Scrooge.
- Robin Wright Penn as:
- Fan Scrooge , Scrooge's sister.
- Belle , Scrooge's neglected fiancée.
- Daryl Sabara as Peter Cratchit , Bob Cratchit's oldest son and heir to his job.
- Molly C. Quinn as Belinda Cratchit , Bob Cratchit's second oldest daughter.
- Sammi Hanratty as Young Belle's Daughter #1 , Want Girl, Young Cratchet Girl
- Ryan Ochoa as voice of Tiny Tim , Caroline's Son #1, Belle's Son #3, Ignorance Boy
- Callum Blue as Caroline's Husband .
- Fionnula Flanagan as Mrs. Dilber , the charwoman under the employ of Ebenezer Scrooge, who steals his belongings after his death.
Production
Zemeckis has stated previously that A Christmas Carol is one of his favorite stories dealing with time travel. Carrey has described the film as "a classical version of A Christmas Carol There are a lot of vocal things, a lot of physical things, I have to do. Not to mention doing the accents properly, the English, Irish accents I want it to fly in the UK. I want it to be good and I want them to go, 'Yeah, that's for real.' We were very true to the book. It's beautiful. It's an incredible film."
Reception
Box office
The film opened at number one in 3,683 theaters, grossing $30,051,075 its opening weekend, with an average of $8,159 per theater. It has grossed $105.4 million domestically and $90.8 million in foreign markets, for a worldwide gross of $196.2 million since being released.
Critical reaction
The film has received mixed or average reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 55% of critics has given the film positive reviews based upon a sample of 164 reviews with an average score of 5.9/10, branding it 'Rotten'. Among Rotten Tomatoes' Cream of the Crop, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television, and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 46% based on 28 reviews. By comparison, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating from 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, gave the film a 55 out of 100 based on 32 reviews.
In his review, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the movie four stars, calling it "an exhilarating visual experience". Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film an A, applauding the film as "a marvelous and touching yuletide toy of a movie". Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News gave the film 3/5 stars, but claimed the film "is well-crafted but artless, detailed but lacking soul." Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon.com gave the film a mixed review claiming the movie "is a triumph of something — but it's certainly not the Christmas spirit." Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal wrote in his review that the film's "tone is joyless, despite an extended passage of bizarre laughter, several dazzling flights of digital fancy, a
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