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Nick Murphy ’s “A Christmas Carol” is not your community theater’s version of the Charles Dickens classic story, and it definitely has more images of death than "The Muppets Christmas Carol." Instead, this FX Original Movie (airing in its entirety Thursday, December 19) is the dark and gritty version of a holiday story that was already about a man’s cruelty. Whereas some stories seem to pull back on Ebenezer Scrooge’s destructive selfishness, this one goes all-in, and  it makes for approximately three joyless hours of watching an adaptation try to justify its edginess.

Adapted for the screen by Steven Knight (“ Locke ,” “Serenity”), “A Christmas Carol” offers a murkier, muddier journey down a familiar story path, and exists as this weird experiment to see if the rewards in Scrooge's can manage his more adult flaws. Guy Pearce plays this iteration of the holiday hater with plenty of cold stares, transforming Scrooge’s cold indifference to the holiday into downright villainy. People have died directly because of his distaste for people, this movie will talk about, and then show us. Pearce is formidable in the iconic role, but his performance, and his take on the character, is not in the least surprising. 

For good measure, Knight’s version starts off with someone pissing on the gravestone of Jacob Marley ( Stephen Graham ), Scrooge’s partner in creating a selfish enterprise that controls the lives of Bob Cratchit ( Joe Alwyn ) and his family, including his wife Mary ( Vinette Robinson ) and their son Tiny Tim ( Lenny Rush ). Marley’s pleas for redemption while stuck in purgatory are answered with the demand that Scrooge must repent, too; knowing that it’s impossible, Marley nonetheless appears (in chains) to tell Scrooge about the Christmas ghosts who will visit him as a type of reckoning.  

Knight’s script spends a lot of time with Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Past ( Andy Serkis ), who turns into important figures from Scrooge’s past, like his father Franklin ( Johnny Harris ) or his favorite literary character as a child, Ali Baba ( Kayvan Novak ). This makes for a scene that looks like it could give the story a sense of life—Scrooge meeting the childhood hero who filled his imagination for years—until it careens to a memory that involves child abuse, and Scrooge being rescued by his sister from a predatory boarding school master.  

This "Christmas Carol" has darker ideas for how Scrooge would maliciously dehumanize people, going so far as to get Scrooge verifiably canceled. One can’t help but think that a story involving him harassing Mary Cratchit was added in part because of a recent public reckoning with high-profile predators. It doesn’t feel out of place in terms of Murphy’s relentlessly bleak tone, but the execution is tone-deaf (as is the handling of Scrooge’s own history of abuse), especially with its place in a story of forgiveness. While this tangent does give Mary Cratchit a bigger presence than she’s had in other iterations, and makes for a stalwart performance from Vinette Robinson, it’s a recklessly half-baked concept.  

Unable to fill its oppressively bleak color palette with anything that’s particularly scary, (though there are a few good moments of nasty special effects, including a removed jaw) “A Christmas Carol” is preoccupied with pain as its edgy addition to the Dickens tale. But as harrowing as it may be to see victims of a Scrooge mine collapse, or a Scrooge factory fire, you know what classic realizations Scrooge will ultimately have when he sees such ornate suffering—and such familiarity feels anticlimactic for the grandiose statements this adaptation wants to make.  

There’s something strange about the adult factor of this movie too, a rare “Christmas Carol”   that is decidedly not family fare given some of its language and general content. An attempt to steer the story away from families seems relatively pointless, as moralizing stories always seem best when their aim involves kids. The everlasting idea behind "A Christmas Carol" is that its lessons can radio signal any person in progress, just like a monologue from Mr. Rogers is for all ages, without needing to use gravely serious language. Instead, this movie’s limits are obvious, in terms of its eloquence and its targeted audience.    

“A Christmas Carol” even seems to be thwarted by the very thing it’s about—any time the holiday is mentioned, it breaks the movie’s desired spell of being its own dangerous beast. Instead, you’re reminded that all of this is still about the not-so-deadly-serious holiday of Christmas. Yes, you’ve seen this story before, but you’ve undoubtedly had more fun watching someone else’s take on it.  

Nick Allen is the former Senior Editor at RogerEbert.com and a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Guy Pearce as Ebenezer Scrooge

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• Nick Murphy

Writer (novella)

• Charles Dickens
• Steven Knight

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A Christmas Carol

H ow many adaptations of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol do we actually need? Well, here's another one, and just as newsreaders seem to be sporting their Remembrance Day poppies earlier each year, so Yuletide films appear to be launched in very good time, to go with all the microwavable Christmas puddings in the shops with sell-by dates of 31 November.

Robert Zemeckis has adapted and directed this version of Dickens's much-loved classic and presented it in motion-capture animation, available in 2D and 3D, lovingly intent on preserving the Christmassy brand in every rich and rosy detail. He creates digital imagery derived from live-action performers – just as in his 2004 Christmas fairytale The Polar Express and the 2007 version of Beowulf, which Zemeckis produced. The advantage is that the actors' recreated physical existences are now seamlessly part of an imagined universe and so quite as malleable. Jim Carrey plays Scrooge not merely as an old man, but as the happy young apprentice shown to him by the Ghost of Christmas Past, as the more careworn coming man of business who chooses money over love, and even as the lonely seven-year-old boy. They all look plausibly like the various ages of Jim Carrey – although, for me, the motion-capture technique always makes children's faces slightly creepy and robotic. Carrey plays all the ghosts, too, interestingly suggesting that they are projections of his own conscience. Gary Oldman provides the real-world template for both Bob Cratchit and Marley.

Zemeckis's quasi-theatrical doubling and trebling is in the Dickensian spirit. The novelist would give massively popular readings, doing all the voices. In 1861, Tolstoy himself went to hear Dickens read A Christmas Carol in London – and maybe the superb description of Scrooge's horrified vision of everyone's utter indifference to his death, at a Christmas yet to come, planted a seed for the opening chapters of The Death of Ivan Ilyich.

The lead performance by Carrey is workmanlike enough, with a voice that wavers between Alastair Sim and some sort of weird Celtic brogue containing a teaspoonful of Mike Myers's Fat Bastard. Colin Firth plays Scrooge's open-hearted, good-natured nephew; Robin Wright Penn is his lost love, Fan, and Bob Hoskins is the genial Fezziwig. None of the voices jar, although it beats me why Zemeckis had to hire American kids to play British tykes.

It's a faithful adaptation, and if you're taking little kids to see it, well, watch out – there are some scary moments, especially the time-honoured shocker when ghostly Marley's lower jaw   falls away.

But there is a weird lack of passion here, almost condescension, a sense that Scrooge's agonised moral journey into his past is potentially pretty dull, and so Zemeckis is always livening things up by whooshing the old miser excitingly through the night sky between visions – a London thrill-ride perhaps influenced by the Harry Potter movies. The hi-tech sheen is impressive, but in an unexciting way. I wanted to see real human faces convey real human emotions.

• Animation in film
• Family films
• Robert Zemeckis

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• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Summary Disney's A Christmas Carol, a multi-sensory thrill ride re-envisioned by Robert Zemeckis, captures the fantastical essence of the classic Dickens tale in a groundbreaking 3-D motion picture event. Ebenezer Scrooge begins the Christmas holiday with his usual miserly contempt, barking at his faithful clerk and his cheery nephew. But when t ... Read More

Directed By : Robert Zemeckis

Written By : Charles Dickens, Robert Zemeckis

A Christmas Carol

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Scrooge, Ghost of Christmas Past, Scrooge as a Young Boy

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Bob cratchit, marley, tiny tim.

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Lesley Manville

Mrs. cratchit.

Molly C. Quinn

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Martha cratchit, guest #1, caroline, leslie zemeckis, fred's wife, critic reviews.

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• DVD & Streaming

A Christmas Carol

• Animation , Drama , Kids

Content Caution

In Theaters

• November 6, 2009
• Voices of Jim Carrey as Scrooge, Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present and Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come; Gary Oldman as Bob Cratchit, Marley and Tiny Tim; Colin Firth as Fred; Robin Wright Penn as Belle; Bob Hoskins as Mr. Fezziwig

Home Release Date

• November 16, 2010
• Robert Zemeckis

Distributor

• Walt Disney

Movie Review

After hundreds of adaptations and contemporary revisions on radio, the stage and screens large and small, most everyone who’s lived through more than four or five Christmases knows Ebenezer Scrooge’s tale. A miserly husk of humanity, Scrooge is a sour spirit whose withering glance gives chills to the warmest of souls. And even after his business partner, Marley, shuffles off this mortal coil, the long-in-the-tooth but short-in-the-heart Scrooge keeps up his penny pinching precepts.

Why, he even lifts the twopence from his former partner’s forever-closed eyes!

In  Polar Express engineer Robert Zemeckis’ animated take, the now ghostly and gruesome Marley reappears on a dark winter’s eve to offer Scrooge another two cents. The spirit laments his lost and squandered life, and he warns his old friend—in none too friendly terms—that unless he changes his ways, he too will be cursed to endlessly wander the spiritual plain carrying an imponderably long and heavy chain of woes.

Scrooge is dubious, of course. So Marley offers his hunched and wiry partner one more chance at redemption: He promises enlightening visits from three spirits—the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.

Positive Elements

Books could be written (and have been) about the depth and breadth of Charles Dickens’ most famous of yarns. I will condense its beneficial offerings to a few meager paragraphs:

Using Scrooge’s dour and often dark journey to full effect, A Christmas Carol regularly reminds us of the joys and redeeming grace that mankind celebrates at Christmas—and we start getting that message long before Mr. Miserable Moneybags makes his big turnaround. Passersby sing Christmas carols recounting and celebrating Jesus’ birth (“Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” “Joy to the World,” etc.). Several characters—including Scrooge’s nephew Fred and his former boss Fezziwig—speak of heaven’s grace and God’s blessings even in times of sorrow and trial.

And while most people hate or fear Scrooge, his underpaid and underappreciated employee, Bob Cratchit, chooses to dedicate his family’s Christmas meal to his boss and lift praise for the (meager though they may be) morsels he has made possible. Fred longs to see his uncle break free from his self-imposed isolation and come join the rest of his family for Christmas dinner. And though Fred finds himself rebuffed as usual, his heart is big enough that when Scrooge’s heart softens, Fred and his family rejoice.

As Scrooge takes his journey with the Christmas spirits he is reminded of the many kind, gentle and loving people who passed through his life and who he tossed aside. He begins to appreciate the gift that life is. And he—as you already full well know—ultimately sees the egregious error and foolhardiness of his cantankerous and greedy ways.

Then, with feeling, but for the very first time, he reaches out to the Cratchit family. He becomes a “second father” to Tiny Tim. He embraces his nephew and his family. And he opens his purse to give to charity and the poor.

Spiritual Elements

As much as Scrooge’s story may be of a man finding a new redemptive beginning, it is also very much a ghost story. And from ghostly visitors to red-eyed shadow horses to the hooded Specter of Death, this version of it plays those latter elements up about as much as I’ve ever seen them played. Audiences are regularly immersed in its spiritual happenings—some of them dark.

More benevolent are images of rejoicing carolers and praying families. Bob Cratchit reports that his sick and hobbled son wanted people at a Christmas Eve service to notice that he was a cripple so that they might remember “who makes the blind man see and the cripple walk.” People cry out such phrases as, “The Lord is king,” “God bless,” “The Lord bless you” and “God save you!”

Elsewhere, Scrooge’s only love laments that he has replaced his affection for her with an obsession for the “idol” of wealth. A street vendor performs the shell and pea game, calling the three shells the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. A spirit expresses disdain for the clergy.

Sexual Content

A number of festive females wear dresses that reveal cleavage. The two starving children (named Ignorance and Want) cowering beneath the robes of the Ghost of Christmas Present grow to adulthood in mere moments—and the girl briefly assumes the wanton look and provocative gestures of a prostitute.

Violent Content

Scrooge takes many a thumping tumble during his journeys with the Christmas spirits. Face-first falls and tumbling chases through cobblestone streets abound. He smashes through huge icicles as he slides down a hill.

In spite of his initial arthritic hunch, though, the old fella turns out to be pretty spry and never appears to be worse for wear or in danger of being hurt.

That’s not to say there aren’t violently frightening moments. For instance, when Marley comes to visit Scrooge, lugging crashing ghostly weights and lashing chains, he becomes so agitated that the entire of his lower jaw snaps off. Scrooge looks out on a courtyard at one point and sees dozens of spirits tortured and tormented by the thumping, crushing weight of their sins.

When the clock strikes 12, the Ghost of Christmas Present crumbles before our eyes in chortling death throes. He eventually is reduced to bone and ash. And during an elongated chase, Scrooge tries to escape the (quite creepy) Specter of Death and his hurtling, wall-shattering hearse. Scrooge later falls into an open grave that appears to be excavated down to the bowels of hell itself.

Crude or Profane Language

“Blast” and “balderdash” are the harshest of Scrooge’s exclamations. But game players at a party slyly invoke the double meaning of “ass” while playing a “guess the animal” game. “Oh my god” is blurted out in surprise.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Partygoers drink tankards of wassail or mead and glasses of wine. A few men are seen with pipes

As much as almost any other classic, this towering tale never seems to grow old. It’s a redemptive story that never fails to leave a tear in my eye or renew my commitment to treat friends, neighbors and even irritating relatives a little nicer.

I’ve personally seen dozens of performances of A Christmas Carol . I’ve even played the cranky old tightwad Scrooge myself a few times in my acting days. And I can readily say I’ve never seen a better overall performance of it than this animated adaptation by Messrs. Zemeckis and Carrey.

The vocal talent is terrific. Jim Carrey’s half-dozen characters are unique, controlled and inviting. He sets aside his typical rubber-faced, goofy pratfalls and ponies up a very thoughtful, enjoyable and at times moving performance. And he’s not alone; the whole cast shines.

The screenplay sticks closely to Charles Dickens’ original. And the brilliant special effects—from motion-capture technology to sweeping camera angles to 3-D twists and turns—dazzle in every scene. Audiences, in fact, will be ducking everything from Christmas wreaths to errant snowflakes.

But that’s not all they’ll be ducking from. Because this is, without question, the most intensely frightening Christmas Carol I’ve ever seen, as well. It’s a pretty dark ghost story and the excellent CGI enhances the shivers with ghastly gusto. Starting with a decomposing Marley and his shattered jaw and lolling tongue, many a young viewer will quickly find themselves scared out of their Christmas candy cane socks.

(I took my teenage daughter with me to the press screening, and after the film her first words were, “That was really scary!”)

That family-oriented warning duly noted, though, I’m compelled to return to the power of Scrooge’s salvation. Because that grim ghostly fare I’ve mentioned—especially since it’s confined to PG-rated boundaries—makes the salient case for jerking ourselves sharply away from our own greedy, selfish, heartless instincts. (While most of us aren’t so shameful as to deprive a good man his holiday pay, we are at least occasionally tempted to stockpile our worldly goods at others’ expense.) When Scrooge is spared from the pains of hell and turns away from the fire that has begun to consume him, the common need for redemption is made plain. And when the ghost of Christmas Present pulls back his robe to reveal those starving, rapidly morphing children, we get the poignant point—right between the eyes—that ignorance and want can lead to crime and sin and destruction.

In this 21st century A.D., computers can create grand cinema, but they can’t negate need. So Dickens’ Victorian warnings ring ever true.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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A Christmas Carol

A bitter old miser who rationalizes his uncaring nature learns real compassion when three spirits visit him on Christmas Eve. A bitter old miser who rationalizes his uncaring nature learns real compassion when three spirits visit him on Christmas Eve. A bitter old miser who rationalizes his uncaring nature learns real compassion when three spirits visit him on Christmas Eve.

• Clive Donner
• Charles Dickens
• Roger O. Hirson
• George C. Scott
• Frank Finlay
• Angela Pleasence
• 224 User reviews
• 19 Critic reviews
• 1 nomination total

• Ebenezer Scrooge

• Jacob Marley

• Ghost of Christmas Past

• Ghost of Christmas Present

• Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

• Bob Cratchit

• Mrs. Cratchit

• Fred Holywell …

• Janet Holywell

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Did you know

• Trivia This is probably the only version of 'A Christmas Carol' in which Scrooge wears dress pants with a dress shirt, vest, and smoking jacket instead of his nightshirt, slippers, and cap. Rumor has it that George C. Scott openly reeled at the very thought of portraying Scrooge under such conditions, especially in an English winter. In the book, Scrooge wears his shirt, pants, vest, dressing gown, and slippers. Scott's clothing is very close to the book.
• Goofs Near the beginning of the movie, some children are sliding on some "ice" which ripples under their feet - it's actually some sort of plastic sheeting.

Ebenezer Scrooge : [on Tiny Tim] Tell me, Spirit... Will he live?

Ghost of Christmas Present : I see a vacant place at this table. I see a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the future, the child will die.

Ebenezer Scrooge : No. Say he'll be spared.

Ghost of Christmas Present : If these shadows remain unaltered by the future, none other of my species will find him here. But if he is to die, then let him die and decrease the surplus population.

Ebenezer Scrooge : You use my own words against me?

Ghost of Christmas Present : Yes. So perhaps, in the future, you will hold your tongue until you have discovered what the surplus population is and where it is. It may well be that, in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child.

• Alternate versions Some VHS and DVD releases (but not all) edited out Marley's voice calling Scrooge in the apparitional hearse, and then again just before appearing in the knocker.
• Connections Featured in The 37th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1985)
• Soundtracks God Bless Us Everyone Lyrics by Tony Bicât Music by Nick Bicât

User reviews 224

• TOMASBBloodhound
• Dec 17, 2006
• What is 'A Christmas Carol' about?
• Is "A Christmas Carol" based on a book?
• What is the purpose of the bandage wrapped around the head of Marley's ghost?
• December 17, 1984 (United States)
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Official Site
• Charles Dickens Weihnachtsgeschichte
• Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, UK
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Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 40 minutes
• Dolby Stereo

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A Christmas Carol

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A christmas carol (1938), common sense media reviewers.

Classic Dickens' tale has mild scares but positive messages.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

This is a much-shortened and family-friendly versi

The value of kindness and generosity -- particular

Bob Cratchit and his family are joyful, positive,

Some angry words are exchanged between characters.

Occasional rudeness includes "idiot" and "arse."

Character enthusiastically opens a bottle of port

Parents need to know that A Christmas Carol is a family-friendly take on the Dickens' classic about Ebenezer Scrooge (Reginald Owen), a miserly man who after being visited by ghosts changes his ways. While the presence of ghosts might be unnerving to some children -- particularly Marley's Ghost (Leo…

Educational Value

This is a much-shortened and family-friendly version of A Christmas Carol but it will nevertheless give viewers an insight into the work of Charles Dickens and the way people lived in Victorian times.

Positive Messages

The value of kindness and generosity -- particularly toward those less fortunate than you. The importance of family and friendships. What it means to share what you have with others, and to love and support one another. A strong message throughout is that placing too much value on money and material possessions will not bring happiness. Overall, this moralistic tale demonstrates that greed and lovelessness can lead to spiritual ruin, but that no one is too old or too hardened to change their ways.

Positive Role Models

Bob Cratchit and his family are joyful, positive, and loving -- despite living in hardship. They show that money is not important, they enjoy simple pleasures, and they are seen sharing the little that they have. Scrooge shows the dangers of living a life focused on money and lacking love. By the end he becomes an excellent role model for change and redemption. Scrooge's nephew Fred is charming, friendly, and non-materialistic, appreciating the value of love and family. In keeping with the historical timeframe, the few female characters have little impact on the overall story, playing secondary roles as wives, fiancées, or daughters.

Violence & Scariness

Some angry words are exchanged between characters. Twice, characters are seen carrying a dead goose, both times its head is seen lolling back and forth. Creepy ghosts and an unnerving visit to a graveyard.

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Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Character enthusiastically opens a bottle of port saying it's "cheering, warming, goodly." Later a character takes a swig from a glass of port. Two scenes in which a family (including the children) all take a drink of homemade punch. A toast is made with glasses of alcohol -- characters take a drink before playing a jolly party game.

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Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that A Christmas Carol is a family-friendly take on the Dickens' classic about Ebenezer Scrooge (Reginald Owen), a miserly man who after being visited by ghosts changes his ways. While the presence of ghosts might be unnerving to some children -- particularly Marley's Ghost ( Leo G. Carroll ) and the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come (D'Arcy Corrigan) -- they are largely unthreatening and the spookiness is balanced with moments of humor. The desperate plight of the Cratchit family is played down, and even Scrooge's meanness feels short-lived. Set in Victorian London, the few female characters that appear on screen are restricted to supporting roles with little impact on the overall story. There is occasional but enthusiastic drinking of alcohol. In two separate scenes, a family (including the children) all drink some homemade punch. Though the story is fundamentally about greed and redemption, this adaptation has a strong sense of optimism throughout and an ending that exudes unbridled festive joy. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the story.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL tells the story of mean and miserly Ebenezer Scrooge (Reginald Owen), an old man with no friends or family who only seems to care about money. He is visited on Christmas Eve by the ghost of his old partner who urges him to change his ways. Three more spirits follow, each taking him on a journey through Christmas Past, Present, and Yet To Come, to show him how his actions have affected those around him -- and how they have stifled his happiness. When the sun comes up on Christmas Day morning, will Ebenezer be a new man, ready to make amends and bring joy to his friends and family?

Is It Any Good?

This 1938 version of A Christmas Carol is a charming early adaptation of Charles Dickens' novella. It opens with a jolly Victorian Christmas scene and the promise of a warm and gentle journey through what is, at least in part, a dark and harrowing tale of redemption. Somehow the overall tone tends toward cheer and optimism, even as mean and miserly Scrooge is being shown the error of his selfish and judgmental ways.

The short runtime means the story is rather whizzed through, but it doesn't lose the essence of this cautionary tale, nor does it undermine the cast of classic characters. And while Dickens aficionados might feel short-changed, many viewers -- especially younger ones -- will find this a reasonably accessible and certainly entertaining retelling. Though made in 1938, this black and white production has a timeless feel to it. Indeed, the very fact that it was made so long ago probably makes it all the more atmospheric to a 21st century audience. And nobody, of any age, can fail to be uplifted by its ultimate festive message of goodwill to all.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about what the underlying message of A Christmas Carol is. What do you think the movie is trying to say is the true meaning of Christmas?

Talk about positive role models in the movie. Which characters do you feel exhibit positive character traits like compassion , courage , or humility ? Why are these important character strengths to have? Can you think of a time when you've had to demonstrate these traits?

Talk about other adaptations of A Christmas Carol , including some creative takes on the story like Scrooged or The Muppet Christmas Carol . How do you think the traditional versions compare to the more modern retellings?

Movie Details

• In theaters : December 16, 1938
• On DVD or streaming : November 8, 2005
• Cast : Reginald Owen , Gene Lockhart , Kathleen Lockhart
• Director : Edwin L. Marin
• Studios : MGM , Warner Home Video
• Genre : Classic
• Topics : Book Characters , Holidays , Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
• Character Strengths : Compassion , Courage , Humility
• Run time : 69 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : February 3, 2023

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