I've seen this underrated Christmas comedy so many times I can basically sing along to it like a popular holiday song.

Scrooged, born of the unimaginative minds of untalented producers, attempts to render a classic into a modern adaptation (for originality). Clearly setting up a parallel between the classic story and the movie's story, the development is not lost on the viewer and could have been admirable, if it were not so obvious and actually contributed to the overall product. However, soon after the first minutes of the movie, the supposed ingenuity was lost and replaced with the typical, formulaic comedy movie starring a bumbling businessman, a hopeless love, and the newly recruited executive. While there are a few elicited laughs, the comedy is speckled with monologues, hopelessness, and anger, turning a Murray comedy into a drama. Maybe Donner was shooting for something like Fargo (1996), except that he forgot how to make a film, instead using the wrong movie mold straight off the shelf. The acting is typical of your typical comedy: typical, reminiscent of Happy Gilmore (1996). Everything was typical, possibly excluding the set and artistic direction aspect with the ghost costumes and TV sets. Unfortunately, the only question this film made me ask was: Why did I watch this film? Technically, the movie attacked the morality of corrupt and greedy businessmen, offering the resolution of living a humanitarian lifestyle, but it was simply adapted from a story as well-known as the Bible. The framing of the story by the writers was decent due to its parallelism to the adapted story and well-structured flashbacks, but they seemed to have forgotten their knock-knock joke book at home when they wrote the script. At least, Murray helped a bit with his classic improvisations. Should anyone watch this movie the day after they watched it the first time, it would be a completely new experience because they won't be able to remember anything of this unmemorable movie. Scrooge could remember his humanity, but Scrooged won't be remembered at all.

BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM VERY HONEST ABOUT THESE FILMS.Another spin on the Charles Dickens tale this time set in the world of American Network Television. By updating the story (To then present day New YorK) also stripped away the heart and since of innocence to the beloved novel. In this version Bill Murray plays the Scrooge but here his name is Frank Cross a Network Television President. Franks idea of Christmas programming is basically putting the Manson Family on Television if it will get ratings. Of course he learns to take in the joy of the season by the end of the movie but the film makers themselves failed to infuse the story of heart. This film is a tad better than the HALLMARK Christmas MOVIES but that is because David Johansen steels every scene away from Bill Murray. Please if you want to see a great Version of "A Christmas Carol" see the 1938 Version produced by MGM. It set the standard

Yes, Bill Murray pretty much plays himself in this one. Yes, the ending is too sentimental in a way that only Americans can do. No, it doesn't matter. Dickens's story never fails to engage. The relocation of the action to 1980's New York with a curmudgeonly TV exec' in the lead role works really well. The ghosts are refreshingly different with the exception of Christmas yet-to-be who probably only ever really works as a faceless shrouded figure. Dickens' tale is so well known that almost everyone knows the beats that the film follows; ex-partner, ghost of past, present and future. Where many artistic types mix things up is by changing the setting. 'Scrooged' is one of the best examples of this and Murray's loathsome TV Exec is a perfect 80's Scrooge. He is inherently mean, but he also revels in it giving him an even worse side than most portrayals of the part. The film has dated extremely since release, but that is part of the charm. Whilst the traditional Victorian tale is snow covered and whimsical, 'Scrooged' will be forever shoulder pads and giant hair.At the center of the film is a great performance by Murray, he really sells the role of a scumbag who finds a heart. The rest of the cast is less notable; Bobcat Goldthwait and Karen Allen are two actors who did not work that much after. If the film is not Murray's, it is director Richard Donner's. Donner is one of the quintessential 80's directors and he fills the film with 80's tropes; ghoulish effects and great pop music. The ghosts are more gruesome than in most revelings of the story and that makes 'Scrooged' a more adult affair, but for all its 80's facade, the film works so well because it stays true to the core messages in Dickens' work.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.