With Spirited, Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds show off their acting, singing, and dancing skills, all the while giving A Christmas Carol an interesting and much-welcomed update.
Overall Score: 8/10
Image: Apple TV+
Spirited is a modern retelling of A Christmas Carol which follows the Ghost of Christmas Present (Will Ferrell) as he attempts to redeem Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds), the most unredeemable of souls, before the end of the Christmas season. Little does he know, however, that the man he seeks to save will end up helping him confront his own mysterious past.
Ok, let’s cut right to the chase. Of all the adaptations of A Christmas Carol we’ve ever gotten, Spirited is my absolute favorite. It doesn’t matter how faithful or well-made any of the others are because none of them come close in terms of being fun, funny, imaginative, and original. You see, Spirited isn’t only a reimagining of the classic tale, it’s also a full-fledged original musical.
There’s a lot to love about this new Christmas movie, but first, let’s discuss the two lead performances. Ryan Reynolds is, well, his usual self, but he does a good job of playing a modern-day Ebenezer Scrooge-esque character. Furthermore, he gets to dance and sing, and from what he’s able to do in the film, it’s clear that he’s pretty good at doing both.
But while Reynolds is certainly great, I’d argue that he’s nowhere as impressive as his co-lead Will Ferrell. A veteran comedian, most people probably know Ferrell for his weird but always funny and memorable roles in comedic movies. And though I like it when he gets to play characters like Buddy from Elf and Jack Wyatt from Bewitched, as with any other comic, it’s nice to see him break out his dramatic acting chops every now and then — think Adam Sandler in Hustle or Steve Carell in Foxcatcher. In Spirited, Ferrell gives a more grounded and vulnerable performance than we’re used to seeing from him. He imbues the Ghost of Christmas Present with warmth and sincerity, allowing him to come off as more human, relatable, and likeable. Oh, and when he sings it can be both so fun and just as heartbreaking to watch and listen to. Really, he’s that good.
Now let’s move on to Spirited’s music. All of the songs in the film are written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul: the duo that served as the lyricists for La La Land and The Greatest Showman. Overall, the soundtrack is quite fun and delightful. I especially like the tracks "The View from Here” and “Unredeemable" as I think that they’re the most powerful and meaningful ones and that they serve as pivotal moments in the arcs of certain characters.
However, I do have to admit that the movie often suffers from not being able to naturally transition into its different musical numbers. In other words, whenever a crucial development in the story occurs, characters will randomly start singing. There are times when this works somewhat organically, but on the whole, I’m more inclined to say that it doesn’t. Yet, fortunately, Spirited’s writers themselves also seem to have been aware of this inherent flaw in their film, and so in hopes of trying to make it less noticeable, they wrote it so that a certain character will ask every so often why others are singing and if them doing so is necessary. This solution might come off as a little too meta or even lazy to some, but personally, I think that it’s rather clever and that it at least gets the job done.
Lastly, I’d like to briefly address my thoughts on how Spirited handles A Christmas Carol’s story. Look, I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with Charles Dickens’s work, it’s just that we’ve already seen so many traditional adaptations of it before. And if you ask me, there’s no use in producing more unless there’s something that will add to the source material or spice things up. That’s why I appreciate what Spirited does. Instead of being a straightforward retelling of the classic tale, the movie wisely chooses to reimagine it for a modern audience. Doing so allows Spirited to do something new and simultaneously appeal to a more diverse set of people. Not everyone likes or is interested in watching A Christmas Carol, but a chance to see Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds dance and sing in a Christmas-themed musical? Now that’s something that most people will likely want to check out.
So, is Spirited worth watching this holiday season? Absolutely! Sure, it’s no It's a Wonderful Life, nor is it nearly as memorable as White Christmas, but Spirited’s got all the hallmarks of a modern Christmas classic and I believe that it will, in time, become one in its own right. And if you’re someone who’s just looking for a way to pass the time or for a new and simple Christmas movie to enjoy with the rest of your family, look no further than Spirited. I promise that you won’t be disappointed.
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