Wednesday, November 28, 2012

A Christmas Carol

 Released Year: 2009
Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Voiced by:
    Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge, Ghost of Christmas Past, 
Ghost of Christmas Present, Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
    Robin Wright Penn as Belle, Fan Scrooge
    Gary Oldman as Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley, Tiny Tim
Colin Firth as Fred
 Story:
In 1843, Ebenezer Scrooge, a bitter and miserly old moneylender at a London counting house holds everything that embodies the joys and spirit of Christmas in contempt. He refuses to visit his cheerful nephew, Fred, at his Christmas dinner party with his family, and forces 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 that were forged from his own greedy ways. Marley warns Scrooge that he will suffer an even worse fate if he does not repent and foretells that he will be haunted by three spirits that will help guide him.

The first spirit is the Ghost of Christmas Past, which shows Scrooge visions of his own past that take place on or around the Christmas season, reminding Scrooge of how he ended up the avaricious man he is now. Scrooge 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 money lending, 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 with its candle snuffer cap.

The second spirit is the Ghost of Christmas Present, which 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. Scrooge is touched by the Cratchits' sickly young son Tiny Tim and his commitment to the spirit of Christmas, and is dismayed to learn from the spirit that Tim may not have much longer to live. Before dying, the spirit warns Scrooge about the evils of "Ignorance" and "Want," which manifest themselves before Scrooge as two wretched children who grow into violent, insane individuals.

The third and final spirit is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, which toys with Scrooge by chasing him through the streets of London on a carriage before showing him the final consequences of his greed. Scrooge sees in this future that he has died: Fred and his wife are elated to inherit Scrooge's wealth, Scrooge's charwoman Mrs. Dilber is shown to have robbed him and gave his clothes to a fence named Old Joe (Bob Hoskins), and the men who attended his funeral had only gone for a free lunch. Tiny Tim is also shown to have died, leaving Bob Cratchit and his family to mourn him on Christmas. Horrified, Scrooge asks the spirit whether the images he has seen are sure to happen or can be changed. To little response, the spirit reveals Scrooge's own grave, showing his own date of death as December 25 of a forthcoming year, and forces Scrooge to fall into his empty coffin sitting in an deep grave, just above the fires of Hell.

Ebeneezer Scrooge suddenly awakens on Christmas Day to find that all three spirits have visited him in a dream over the course of one night. He then asks a kid on the street what day it is and learns that it is Christmas. Ebeneezer Scrooge gives the kid some money to give to the butcher and have a turkey delivered to the Cratchits. Ebeneezer Scrooge also attends his nephew's dinner coming in during charades. When Bob Cratchit comes to work, Ebeneezer grants him the day off after he has him deliver the money to the bank. As he steps out, Bob Cratchit tells the viewers that Ebeneezer Scrooge has become a kinder person and a second father to Tiny Tim. As it shows Ebeneezer Scrooge carrying Tiny Tim on his shoulders down the streets, Tiny quotes "God bless us, everyone."
   L² Scored: 6.5/10

L² Comment:
Jim Carrey is really a talented guy who can have multiples voices and his tone is so good that you can't even define which voice are sounds by him. Overall i love the characters, but the story is a bit too dull for me. A fiction by Charles Dickens, it is nice and have a huge moral in it, but its more suitable for adults...

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