Disney's A Christmas Carol

Dear Erica,

It won't be long and Robert Zemeckis will have invented a computer program that makes movies without any human involvement whatsoever. Push one button and it writes, directs, designs and acts itself. We'll call it Zemeckisvision and every movie will be perfect. I know it sounds implausible, but if I said 10 years ago that you could fit 20,000 CD's in your pocket, you would have laughed in my face. Mark my words, computers will soon be putting actors out of work. That would be fine for the Steve Harveys and Megan Foxes, but what about the Meryl Streeps and Sean Penns?

I absolutely adored his first foray into motion capture, The Polar Express. He did the same, although less successfully, with Beowulf. Now he has taken on one of the most popular books of all time. And one that every film director seems to tackle before they die. As a side note, I'd love to see Woody Allen's take on this Dickens tale. Woody himself as Ebenezer Scrooge would be a hoot. Set in New York (of course), some of his real life drama could be put into the fold. Mia Farrow as the Ghost of Christmas Past. Ak! Now THAT would be awesome. But I digress.

This new version stars Jim Carrey and I actually really enjoyed it. I can take or leave the 3D aspect, since that gimmick does nothing for me. If anything it just means more superfluous action sequences to show off the technology. What this retelling values is both the darkness of the book and the spirit of the holidays. It also knows how to take its time, sometimes painfully so, in order to build suspense.

Jim Carrey is nothing short of magnificent. These are the kind of roles I like him in; when he's not contorting his face like a clown with Parkinson's Disease or trying his hand at "less is more acting" and basically sleepwalks through a movie. No, as Scrooge he is both scary and warm at the same time. We fear his tyrannical benders, yet there is always a glimmer of hope that he may be capable of change.

Visually it's a stunner. The Polar Express people were a bit creepy and mush-mouthed, but here they have far more realistic faces and bodies. No Ooompah-Loompah Tom Hankses this time around.

All in all, this is a thrilling and respectable entry into the Christmas Carol canon. You gotta hand it to Dickens for writing a story that, while waaaaaaaaaaaaaay over done, is always entertaining. And touching, too.

Till next time,
Bradley