Scrooged

This was our Christmas Eve movie this blessed year of 2008, the last year the chimpanzee from Texas will defile our White House. I’ve always had a soft spot for this one, and don’t really understand why so many critics were so harsh with it. I loved the character of Frank Cross (Bill Murray), who would have horrified Ebenezer Scrooge if they’d ever met. I loved the updating, with the Ghost of Christmas Past a New York City cabbie, and Christmas Present a frenetic sadist fairy played by Carol Kane. In fact, it’s all great until the last five minutes, when the screenwriters (Michael O’Donoghue and Mitch Glazer) couldn’t seem to get quite the right handle on how Frank sees the error of his ways, and let Murray vamp on a little too long. But that’s a minor carp. This one, A Christmas Story, and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation would make a nice triple feature. Then if your blood sugar’s too high, take a dose of 180-proof Bad Santa to get the sweetness out of your mouth.