You know the film. It’s a film you have never heard of. The cast might be composed of actors you know and love or complete unknowns. A documentary that sounds interesting about a topic you might like. You stumble across it on streaming and wonder if it will be worth two hours of your time. This series will be devoted to reviewing films like these, the strange items that pop up when you are looking for a flick on the streaming service of your choice. This is “We Found It On Streaming”
In the month of December, during our celebration of Saturday Night Live‘s 50th anniversary, we will be devoting this feature to holiday films found on streaming with some ties to the sketch program. This installment covers a film starring Will Ferrell with a special appearance from Jimmy Fallon.
FILM: Spirited
Release Date: November 11, 2018
Run Time: 127 Minutes.
Streaming Service(s): Apple TV+
Rating: Rated PG-13 for language, some suggestive material and thematic elements.
One has to wonder if Charles Dickens had any idea the impact his 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, would have on the world in the almost two centuries since it had been written. It has been adapted into almost every form of media over the years, from film to radio to the stage, with performers ranging from Patrick Stewart to the Muppets providing the take on the narrative. A miserly, Christmas-hating skinflint is often called Scrooge in reference to the novella’s main character Ebenezer Scrooge. It is one of the most, well-known stories in the history of the world.
Being such, there is a desire amongst certain creators to put their own spin on the story. Obviously, the original is a classic, but there is always room for modernization. That brings us to Spirited, a new version of the old story, which not only draws on past incarnations, but also comments on them, sometimes in song.
The Ghost of Christmas Present (Ferrell) has been turning souls on the naughty list to ones on the good list for centuries. He is well past “retirement age,” (for ghosts retirement means returning to the land of the living) but stays on the job because he believes that he still has good to do.
When he and the other ghosts are scouting their next “perp,” a hotel manager with a heart made of coal, Present comes across Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds), a selfish media consultant known for his dirty tactics. Present feels that Clint will be a better prospect for the Ghostly Visit, but his boss, Jacob Marley (Patrick Page), tries to talk him out of it, as Briggs has been deemed “Unredeemable.” But Present wins out and Briggs becomes the Ghosts’ next perp.
However, Marley is soon proven right as Briggs soon becomes too much to handle. Present soon has to take over the haunting all by himself as Briggs turns the tables on him. He notices Present’s attraction to his vice president, Kimberly (Octavia Spencer), and presses him on why he hasn’t returned to life yet. The haunting becomes a battle of wills, Present trying to save Briggs soul, Briggs trying to convince Present to retire back to life.
The observant among you might have noticed I mentioned songs above. Spirited is a musical. Sort of. It’s a musical when the film makers remember that it is supposed to be one. You get the feeling that the songs are pretty much an afterthought. They don’t need t0 be there, and the film would be better if they weren’t, and when they arrive, they take you out of the narrative. It’s not that the songs are bad, “Good Afternoon” is quite good, but more than once I groaned as another song interrupted the story’s momentum.
It doesn’t help that as singers, Reynolds and Ferrell make good comedic actors. Reynolds fares better than Ferrell, but neither are outstanding singers. The one actor who fares best is Spencer, who acquits herself nicely. Weirdly enough, the best singer in the cast, Broadway star Patrick Page, hardly does any singing. His character instead complains whenever Present breaks into song.
Yes, the film is also big on metacommentary. The characters know that they are in a musical, and some like that fact more than others. A Christmas Carol exists in the reality of the film, and Reynolds’ character references how what is happening to him resembles its plot. And it is sure to remind us it knows when the plot comes to close to other adaptation that came before it. Bill Murray’s Scrooged gets name dropped in the film. It appears enough to make the film interesting but never becomes overbearing.
If you take away the songs, you have a fairly moving film. Will Ferrell gives a more subdued performance here. He actually plays a character here, not another version of the idiot manchild he typically plays in other films. Reynolds role lends itself to his typical cocky and arrogant persona, but he also shows more than a little depth as we recount some of the more tragic moments of Clint’s history.
There are several twists in the film, which I will not spoil, but are pretty much easy to figure out for the get-go. If you like your twists to be surprises, this might work against the film for you. It didn’t really ruin the film for me, but your milage may vary.
Oh, and that Jimmy Fallon appearance? It is a cameo in his role as host of The Tonight Show. Like Jay Leno did many times when he was host, Fallon appears to make some jokes about the project Briggs is working on.
Overall, I liked the film. I was involved in the characters and moved by some parts of the film. But I would have enjoyed the film a whole lot more if the songs felt like they were more part of the narrative. Maybe you would like musical aspect more than I did, but I do recommend the film regardless. It’s not a bad film to play in the background during you holiday gatherings.
Have you found a film on streaming that you’d like us to look at? Leave it in the comments and it might appear in a future installment of this feature.
