It only took us a week to get to one of these films and I highly doubt it will be the last I watch before Christmas. Its is impossible at this time of year to avoid at least one version of 'A Christmas Carol' so for this year I decided to watch a version I hadn't seen before, the 1999 made for TV version. It isn't entirely true that I haven't seen this version as I have scene parts of it at least once or twice, but this was the first time I have seen it all the way through. I can Say right now that it isn't my favourite film version of the classic story, but it is a very solid one. I feel like I definitely don't need to give a plot synopsis for this film, but I will for the one person who has been living under a rock their entire lives. The film follows Ebenezer Scrooge (Patrick Stewart), a crotchy and mean old man with a love of money and a disdain for Christmas. One night he is visited by the ghost of his old business partner, Jacob Marley (Bernard Lloyd), he is warned to change his ways or he faces an afterlife of damnation. To help him see the error of his ways he is visited by the spirits, the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet-To-Come. With these spirits h is taken through moments in his life that shaped him and show what will become of him if he doesn't embrace the christmas spirit.
I don't need to say to much about the plot and my enjoyment of it. 'A Christmas Carol' is a timeless classic for a reason and this film follows the story pretty much to a tee. As a result a really enjoyed the story. It is, of course, helped by a really great set and costume design. The film goes for a realistic style of set design and so everything looks murky and dirty and a lot of the sets are dimly lit. It does a good job of making you buy into the era the story takes place in, but also fits the mood of the film. This is why once Scrooge starts to realise the error of his ways scenes seemingly get brighter and cleaner to match the change in personality of the character. However, it isn't all positive news when it comes to the look of the film. A couple of the spirits designs aren't exactly to my taste. The Ghost of Christmas Present looks good and his design is pretty accurate to how he is described in the original text. But I am not particularly fond of the other two. The Ghost of Christmas Past looks cheap, almost like they have just grabbed a guy off the street, put some white face piant and a shit wig on him and gone that'll do. Its not as bad as the Ghost of Christmas Yet-To-Come mind. They get the looming height with the black cloak down, but they give it really shit looking cat eyes and normal female hands. The spirit is meant to be ominous but the design makes it look more like two children on top of each other's shoulders pretending to be tall. It might be the worst designed version of the spirit I have seen. There are also a couple dodgy looking CGI effects thrown into the film, but its a 199 made for TV film so I give it a bit of a pass.
When talking about performances you only have to look to the cast list to know that the majority of them will be solid. Even bit parts get recognisable actors in them. This isn't to say that all the performances are great. A lot of the child actors are pretty wooden and have poor line delivery, but it is not just the child actors. Both Laura Fraser as Belle, and Kenny Doughty as Young Scrooge both seem a bit lifeless. The performances are by no means terrible. but they are not the most convincing either. It is unsurprising that the two big name actors in the film give the best performances. These actors are, of course, Patrick Stewart and Richard E. Grant, who plays Bob Cratchit. Grant puts in a really good performance playing Cratchit. He manages to portray the timid and nervous nature of the character whilst also showing him to be optimistic, loving and happy. It is a charming performance and it makes you want to have a person like Bob Cratchit in your life. Stewart steals the show however. He is equally adept at playing the character as mean and intimidating, as well as loving and joyous towards the end. He has a real anger and bitterness that shines through in his performance in the first half of the film. He manages to keep the high level of performance up throughout the film and runs the gamut of emotions, capturing them all really well. The happiness he portrays in the final moments of the film are infectious and I found myself smiling along with him. Not my favourite Scrooge, but a very good portrayal nonetheless.
I am always going to enjoy the story of 'A Christmas Carol'. It is a very effective story with clar morals and an obvious heart, and its clear to see why it still captures the imagination and is endlessly remade to this day. This version of the film is a very solid outing. A couple of the designs of the spirits are definitely not to my liking and it suffers with the late 90s love of CGI. But the performances are mostly very good, the sets and costume all look great and it is, at the end of the day, a story I love. I don't see myself coming back to this version very often, but if you fancy watching a new version of the classic story this one is definitely worth your time.