That ole Scrooge has learned his lesson a lot this month. It didn't matter if he was played by Rowan Atkinson, George C. Scott, Bill Murray or Jean Luc err I mean Patrick Stewart they each reached their destinies of becoming better people. Well, except for Atkinson who as Black Adder learned to be evil.
I missed the Scrooge McDuck version this year. Bah Humbug.
But I had never seen the George C. Scott version which on Netflix instant was almost unwatchable because of audio issues. I almost lost an eardrum everytime an IMPORTANT EMOTIONAL MOMENT happened.
My wife turned to me the other day and said in her best Bill Murray roar, "We don't want to scare the Dickens out of people. The DICKENS out of people."
That version has lost a little bit of it's charm for me but not too much. Still, Murray doing nothing but screaming at the camera for two hours is more entertaining than a partridge in a pear tree.
The Stewart version is by the numbers, but Scrooge trying to figure out how to laugh near the end is a neat little acting move. At least Stewart has the cajones to wear the pajamas and the cap for night scenes. Scott refused, according to IMDB, and wore a suit through the whole thing.
So, we spent December watching the same story over and over again. What have we learned?
I'd rather work for Fezziwig than Scrooge even after he reformed. Fred is kind of schmuck. Cratchit should have just found a better job elsewhere. Tiny Tim needs a good smack to the head.
At least, that's what I took away from the whole thing. I concede though that I might have missed the point.
