A Christmas Carol
“A Christmas Carol” by Nick Murphy is not the Charles Dickens classic story that your local theater might put on, and it has more images of death than “The Muppets Christmas Carol.” Instead, this FX Original Movie (airing in its entirety Thursday, December 19) is a dark and gritty version of a holiday story that was already about a man’s cruelty. While some adaptations seem to shy away from Scrooge’s destructive selfishness, this one does not hold back at all and it makes for about three hours of watching an adaptation try to justify its edginess less ness.
“A Christmas Carol” was written for the screen by Steven Knight, who wrote “Locke” and “Serenity.” However, this adaptation takes a different look at the story. It acts as if Scrooge’s can control his more adult flaws due to odder beliefs in the rewards. In this film, Guy Pearce plays a version of holiday hater who glares at everyone; he makes Scrooge into a villain that killed people directly with words about them being useless or unloved.
It’s nothing unexpected considering what we already knew but it’s still worth noting because it needs saying sometimes even though nobody wants to hear it again or read another article about how great someone else thinks themselves capable of becoming just like me formidable is too weak of a word here.
Additionally, Knight’s take begins when someone pees on Jacob Marley’s gravestone (Stephen Graham). He was one half of Scrooge’s duo that created an enterprise serving only their own greediness while crushing Bob Cratchit (Joe Alwyn) along with his wife Mary (Vinette Robinson) and son Tiny Tim (Lenny Rush).
Marley begs for redemption from purgatory but instead hears he must repent as well; knowing this impossible task will never happen still doesn’t stop him from showing up in chains to warn Ebenezer about ghosts coming later that night they’re there to haunt him until Day 1000 or whenever enough lessons have been learned through suffering.
Mostly seen together, Scrooge spends a lot of time with Andy Serkis’ Ghost of Christmas Past which turns into important figures from his life such as dad Franklin (Johnny Harris) or childhood hero Ali Baba (Kayvan Novak). This might breathe new life into scenes where otherwise none existed like meeting your imaginary friend who captivated every waking moment until now except when things take an unexpected turn down memory lane involving child abuse et cetera; luckily Scrooge is saved by sis.
“Christmas Carol” has always had dark ideas about how Scrooge would dehumanize people but this time it goes much further. The story basically cancels him which can be seen in those moments when he ruthlessly harasses Mary Cratchit and I wonder if part of that change was prompted by our own public reckoning with predators, not unlike Murphy’s tendency toward relentless bleakness though poorly executed here given its role within a tale centered around forgiveness although one good thing coming out from all of this is Vinette Robinson who delivers an incredibly strong performance as Mrs. Bob Cratchit even if she has less time on screen due to being half baked.
It tries really hard to make things scary but ultimately fails (though there are a couple decent gross out moments like the jaw) because instead of darkness being used for suspense or shock value it stays there, becoming oppressive and overwhelming until you don’t care anymore what’s going on. And despite seeing such ornate suffering should have been eye opening enough for Ebenezer Scrooge with his wealth bound up in mines and factories where accidents happen more frequently than anywhere else. I mean I know we’re supposed to learn something here about empathy but these lessons feel empty now after everything else that happened before them so why bother even trying again?
This movie seems off-target as a family film, though it’s strange to say that about any version of “A Christmas Carol.”
“A Christmas Carol” always has been the tale of which its lessons are not heavy-handed but can reach anyone who is growing, like a soliloquy from Mr. Rogers, no matter what age they are. This film shows its boundaries in terms of eloquence and audience.
The holiday itself seems to interrupt “A Christmas Carol”; whenever it’s mentioned, the movie ceases to become an animal that endangers itself. It becomes apparent that all this fuss is still about the hardly deadly serious occasion called Christmas. Yes, you know this story already; however, someone else’s version was definitely more interesting for you.
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