Scrooged (1988)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Richard Donner

Writers (WGA):

Mitch Glazer (written by) &
Michael O'Donoghue (written by) ...

Release Date:

23 November 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

Tagline:

Bill Murray is back among the ghosts. Only this time, it's three against one.

Plot:

A cynically selfish TV executive gets haunted by three spirits bearing lessons on Christmas Eve.

Plot Keywords:

Christmas | Ghost | Christmas Carol | Executive | Holiday

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Bill Murray	...	Frank Cross
Karen Allen	...	Claire Phillips
John Forsythe	...	Lew Hayward
John Glover	...	Brice Cummings
Bob Goldthwait	...	Eliot Loudermilk (as Bobcat Goldthwait)
David Johansen	...	Ghost of Christmas Past
Carol Kane	...	Ghost of Christmas Present
Robert Mitchum	...	Preston Rhinelander
Nicholas Phillips	...	Calvin Cooley
Michael J. Pollard	...	Herman
Alfre Woodard	...	Grace Cooley
Mabel King	...	Gramma Cooley
John Murray	...	James Cross
Jamie Farr	...	TV Jacob Marley
Robert Goulet	...	Robert Goulet

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:AL | Netherlands:6 | Australia:M | Finland:K-14 | Ireland:12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Sam Kinison was originally slated to play the part of Eliot Loudermilk. The part eventually went to Bob Goldthwait due to his friendship with Bill Murray.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the movie, on set you see scenes with snow on people. During cut scenes, the snow comes and goes.

Quotes:

Frank Cross: Quick. What time is it?
Elliot: Somebody stole my watch.

Movie Connections:

Featured in A Hollywood Christmas (1996) (V)

Soundtrack:

We Three Kings of Orient Are

Fun to watch every day of the year.

This is a Christmas movie that also is very enjoyable to watch outside of the holiday's.

Another name for the movie could be "The Bill Murray Show", he simply makes this movie and I can't even imaging how the movie would have been without him in it. He's amazingly funny and on top of that he also is a wonderful actor. You can see that in some of the scene's he improvised a lot and he did that brilliantly! All the other actors and characters are merely sidekicks.

The story is basically a modern version of the classic Dickens novel "A Christmas Carol" and it's done wonderfully. It's great to see how the the classic story is translated into the 20th century. Everything works very well: The settings, the characters and the events, everything.

From the hilarious opening involving Santa Claus and Lee Mayors (I say no more) till the wonderful ending the movie delivers non stop fun and pure entertainment with a nice love story, brilliant dialog and a great and important message in it. Only thing is that I feel that the movie could have done without the whole Loudermilk thing, but oh well...

Very recommendable and close of being perfect.

9/10