Scrooged (1988) has the exact opposite problem of our 25th greatest Christmas film, White Christmas. Whereas the Bing Crosby musical ties a couple hours of mediocrity into the kind of perfect holiday-bow finale that leaves you wanting more, Scrooged is cursed with one of the worst third acts in cinema history; a horrible, wretched, awful televised confession that not only leaves a nasty aftertaste but might be guilty of setting a cheap cinematic trend second only to the shaky-cam — especially in romantic comedies — the horrible, wretched, awful, third-act public confession we see utilized time and again to lazily wrap things up.
The rest of Bill Murray’s modern (well, 80’s) spin on Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol” is absolutely terrific. Taking the story into the world of entertainment for a Network-esque skewering of television is inspired and so is the perfect casting of Murray as the Scrooge character. Murray’s good in both type of roles, but I much prefer when he’s the straight man reacting to the zaniness around him as opposed to creating it (Caddyshack being the ultimate exception).
You drop an understated comedic genius like Murray into a wild story that allows him to be constantly caught off guard by marvelous characters and character actors like Carol Kane, Buster Poindexter (David Johansen), Jamie Farr, Bobcat Goldthwait, Brian Doyle-Murray, Michael J. Pollard, Buddy Hackett, Robert Goulet and a very funny and memorable Robert Mitchum as Murray’s slightly addled boss, and it’s hard to go wrong.
As the two warm hearts of the story, Karen Allen and Alfre Woodard never get lost in the madness swirling around them. But…
…of course, the highlight of Scrooged was also the highlight of all of 1988: An epic cameo with The Mighty Lee Majors.
And now for a bit of trivia: Did you know that watching David Johansen aka: Buster Poindexter play the role of Scrooged’s Ghost Of Christmas Past caused a grown man to attempt suicide by jumping out a window?
Johansen got his start in the early 1970s as the lead singer for the glam-rock band The New York Dolls. Great band, but after only a few years, drugs and ego caused a bitter break up and afterwards the bass player, Arthur “Killer” Kane, was the least successful in making a comeback. So resentful was he at his own failure and the success of the others that Johansen yukking it up in a major motion picture was seemingly the last straw and out the window “Killer” went.
Kane survived and this hitting of bottom eventually led him to become a Mormon. In 2004, almost thirty years after their break up, the band reunited for a successful reunion concert and made peace with one another. Just a few months later Kane would died of leukemia.
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