It’s Christmas time so there must be another film of Dickens, ‘A Christmas Carol’ and this this year it stars Johnny Depp as Ebenezer Scrooge in a return to a starring role after the unedifying court case that his ex-wife Amber Heard bought against him. It’s arguably one of the best known Christmas stories and it’s a role that Depp was keen to play to such a degree that its rumoured he took a pay cut to do so.
Ebenezer…is he good?
In a star led project with a decent supporting cast it sees Ian McKellen as Jacob Marleym Ebenezer’s business partner, who is equally miserly and lacking in Christmas spirit insisting that their underpaid and overworked employee Bob Cratchit comes into work on Christmas Day.
But when Marley passes away that night and in a dream/nightmare warns Ebenezer to change his ways or end up joining him in purgatory. To that end Ebenezer is visited by the ghost of Christmas past, present and future played by an unrecognisable Andrea Riseborough adding another character to her impressively diverse back catalogue and here she has the glassy eyed glaze of Brooklyn Beckham on Mastermind being asked his name. Joining her is Tramell Tillman as a rapidly rotting Christmas Present and an CGI apparition as Christmas Future. It’s the ghosts that give him a glimpse of his own life and its impact on others but also an explanation of just how he’s turned out how he has with a tragic backstory of lost love.
The horror….
This incarnation leans heavily into the horrors of Victorian life which was to be expected from director Ti West, an inspired bit of hiring, whose own background is heavily grounded in the genre – take a look at his ghostly 2011 film ‘The Innkeepers’ – and there’s a nod to Depp’s death scene in his feature film debut, ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’. But this is not really a film for kids with a dark second act that will have them dreading Christmas. But the story is well known and with Ebenezer seeing the errors of his way admitting ’ I’m not the man I was’ ironically a line that’s sure to be to in any drama about Prince Harry.
Star turns…
A Christmas Carol has always been a suitable project for a star turn which has seen stand out performances by Alistair Sim, the late Patrick Stewart, Michael Caine ,George C Scott and even Jim Carrey and modern updates have seen Bill Murray (Scooged) and Ryan Reynolds (Spirited) so there’s something about the role that actors can’t resist. So it’s easy to see why Johnny Depp is drawn to the role. Still recognizably him under the wig and prosthetic nose and chin it’s not quite the usual outlandish plundering of the dressing up box that we’ve seen in previous films like his Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland and the film’s best moments are those that prompt flickers of humanity in Scrooge and the man he was.
But for a film based on what was a novella it is overlong running at just under two hours but that aside Depp’s eye catching turn is complimented by a starry cast that includes Sam Claflin, Daisy Ridley and Rupert Grint. With a low key ending that’s reassuring rather than celebratory about Ebenezer’s change of heart it makes this latest incarnation of Dicken’s most famous creation a worthy addition to the pantheon of film adaptations.
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Here’s the trailer….
