Jacob Marley (Patrick Page) and the three Ghosts make it their business to redeem a Scrooge (a "perp") each Christmas. The Ghost of Christmas Present (Will Farrell) has put off retirement for a few decades. They have an abusive hotel manager to deal with, but Present finds the hotel's guest speaker a better perp. That man, Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds), is a media consultant who specializes in scandals. Marley finds him unredeemable, but Present insists, and the Ghost team goes on the case.
Briggs is no ordinary Scrooge. His wiliness proves difficult with Marley and Christmas Past (Sunita Mani), forcing Present to take on a larger workload. Briggs flips Present's attempt to make him confront his past and present back on him. In life, Present was not just a Scrooge, he was Ebenezer himself. Present wonders if he was truly redeemed and truly considers that retirement package. But first, he has to save that "white whale."
A few reviews think that director Sean Anders and John Morris's script isn't that an innovative rendition of the Dickens story. I think the opposite. The perspective flip to the Christmas Ghosts is an innovative take. We get to see some interesting sides to the Ghosts Ebenezer never did. Christmas Past feels stuck in a soulless job, while Christmas Yet-To-Come (body by Loren Woods, voice by Tracy Morgan) struggles with the scary act. The fact that this is a sequel to A Christmas Carol adds poignancy to Present's relentless optimism. It's a twist I didn't expect. Briggs being a crafty Scrooge makes it a fun romp. His secretary, Kimberley (Octavia Spencer), is Present's love interest; their scenes together are nice.
What isn't great is the lack of a few tonal transitions. We see in Clint's past that his mom gave him a water bowl for a non-existent puppy that "ran away," according to her. Another flashback sees them on better terms. What's missing is a flashback of them reconciling. A subplot has Clint coaching his niece, Wren (Marlow Barkley), to win a school election with underhanded means. Yet-To-Come shows that said means inadvertently led to Wren's opponent's suicide. After he sees his grave, Clint rushes in comical fashion to convince Wren not to go low, while that grim future funeral lingers in our mind. We don't see much of Wren, other than one scene, after Clint's surprising demise (a legitimately funny case of mood whiplash).
There's some bright and cheery production and costume designs here. The Ghosts' headquarters, Clint's apartment and future graveyard are some of the striking locales. Clint shows off an elaborate wardrobe during his first musical number. His and Present's red and green contrast is striking. There's also good makeup work to render Ferrell into the elderly Ebenezer and Page as the creepy Marley. Marley appearing to Clint is made hysterical when the latter consistently interrupts the former's formidable song. Pasek and Paul's songs are consistently met with annoyance or confusion from onlookers (Marley included). Clint getting Present to reignite his inner Scrooge is set to the funniest song the duo wrote: Good Afternoon. It's made funnier by the fact that this, and not any of the dramatic numbers, has now been shortlisted for Oscar notice.
Robert Zemeckis's A Christmas Carol didn't do much new that previous renditions (even the Muppets) did great. By contrast, Spirited's perspective flip is a unique take on an old story. Its leads are entertaining, and the story is sometimes moving. It suffers from jarring mood whiplash but it's still good. It'll make a fine matinee whether on Apple TV or wherever theaters still have it. Whichever's fine. Even if it's another Christmas movie.
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