Yet another A Christmas Carol knockoff. This one features a few actors that make you tune in--Emmanuelle Vaughier, an actress who's guest-starred in everything (CSI: NY and Smallville being my favorite of her stints), Carson Kresley from The Perfect Man, and Carrie Fisher of Princess Leia fame. Vaughier has a good amount of attitude for her version of a Scrooge-y book publisher, and Kresley's comedic skills are severely underused. This movie also gets props for combining all the ghosts into one character rather than trying to put four all-too-quirky characters into a two-hour movie.
After about forty minutes, though, I started realizing that this movie had too much weight and not enough fun. Sure, Carrie Fisher makes a Star Wars reference or two, but Emmanuelle's diva attitude quickly wears down into a depressing self-pity sob story. When Carrie Fisher arrived as her version of the Ghost of Christmas Future and she wasn't in a Darth Vader costume, I was beyond disappointed. The movie does redeem itself a bit at the end by giving its heroine 30 minutes instead of 10 to make her life better, which allows its (remaining) audience to once again see the charm of Emmanuelle Vaughier.
I also have a few factual bones to pick with It's Christmas, Carol! What kind of book publisher has to Google the plot to A Christmas Carol? Or doesn't know who wrote it, especially after claiming that Dickens and Dostoyevsky are her favorite writers? Any American could likely sum up the plot to Dickens' Christmas classic in five steps: 1. Jacob Marley; 2. Christmas Past; 3. Christmas Present; 4. Christmas Future; 5. "God bless us, every one."
A few notable quotes to leave with you...
- "Never plan your life around a man. He won't give you the same courtesy."
- "Men never know what they want until you tell them."
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