Good story, Not enough for a whole film

A Masterpiece!

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The acting in this movie is really good.

This remake is the absolute worst remake of the Dickens classic. Watch the fantastic 1938 movie and compare it to this horrid, schlocky, poorly uninspired excise for a tv movie. To make things worse TNT on demand shows so many obnoxious commercials that you cant speed up,its actually painful. What a total waste.

Patrick Stewart excels as perhaps the nastiest and most intimidating version of Scrooge, which makes his redemption all the more heartening and indeed shows more than any other adaptation, that it's not just Scrooge that needs saving but also the downtrodden Bob Cratchit and the family that so depends on him. The casting here is absolutely top notch, with Richard E Grant - has there ever been a more stressed out and sympathetic Cratchit - Dominic West - has there ever been a more likeable and charming Fred - Desmond Barritt, Ian MacNiece - born to play Fezziwig - Joel Grey, Saskia Reeves and Bernard Lloyd all excellent in their roles, which stands in stark contrast to the terribly miscast 1984 version, often bizarrely cited as being superior.

This was the third version I had seen, and before I had only seen tiny bits of it on TV a couple of times, and the leading actor and other good people certainly got my attention to see it properly. You know the story, but I'll explain briefly. Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge (Patrick Stewart, a good bitter beginning, and then an over the top reform) is the cold-hearted Christmas hating businessman who gets visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley (Bernard Lloyd), who warns him of the torture he faced and the Ghosts that will haunt him. Then obviously he is taken by the Ghosts of Christmas Past (Joel Grey), Present (Desmond Barrit) and silent Future/Yet To Come (Tim Potter) until eventually Scrooge sees the light and realises he must change. This is where Stewart really overdoes it a bit, he is maniacal in his overly happy reform, I much preferred him meaner. Also starring Richard E. Grant as Bob Cratchit, Ian McNeice as Mr. Albert Fezziwig, Saskia Reeves as Mrs. Cratchit, Dominic West as Fred (Scrooge's nephew), Trevor Peacock as Old Joe, Liz Smith as Mrs. Dilber, Laura Fraser as Belle, Celia Imrie as Mrs. Bennett and Ben Tibber as Tiny Tim. The only change I see (besides the over the top happy Scrooge) is the ignorance and want children again. A good TV made film, but I doubt I will be seeing it too often (probably just every time it's on at Christmas, or not at all). It was nominated the Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special. Worth watching!

It's all in the writing of course. Stay true to Dickens' peerless source material, get the production values right and employ good actors and actresses and all should be well, as is here. Here, the excellent Patrick Stewart (executive producer too) convincingly portrays Ebenezer Scrooge and his journey from dark to light. Richard E Grant seems to me a little young and clean almost for the Bob Cratchit part, I saw Kevin Whately more in the part. The rest of the cast are fine in supplementary roles whilst I also enjoyed the special effects evocations of Jacob Marley's ghost and the three Christmas spirits who all initially scare and torment old Scrooge but ultimately lead him to righteousness. Best scenes are the first entry of Marley's ghost, the spurning of the young Scrooge by his young love and Stewart's difficulty in bringing out a laugh in his relief at his chance of redemption. The cinematography is generally good, with sprinklings of snow in most scenes to further accentuate the Christmas feel to the whole film. As stated earlier, it would be hard to go wrong here and with so many modern adaptations around, it was nice to see this wonderful Christmas story set so well in its own period.