Bill Murray stars as Frank Cross, a media mogul who is putting on a production of "A Christmas Carol." And, as you've guessed, he has much in common with Mr. Scrooge. But Murray's Cross, unlike Ebenezer, has to interact with people throughout his transformation, which yield hilarious results and adds a delightful unexpectedness to the story. After Cross is visited by his "Marley", he becomes hypersensitive and suspects everyone of being "the first ghost". Murray plays this perfectly. All ghosts arrive in a fresh, nontraditional way, and there is also a disgruntled character who throws a wrench into the ghosts' plans.
The story is of course updated, and deals subtlety with many issues confronting society in the 1980's, when the film was produced. Claire, Frank's ex-love, works with the homeless. The Cratchit character, played wonderfully by Alfre Woodard, is a single mother. The film also makes the Scrooge character more accessible and more sympathetic. Can you imagine Ebenezer playing a dog on a children's show (which Cross does)? Or receiving a Kama Sutra book as a Christmas present?
Women figure nicely in this version of Dicken's tale. Half of the major characters are women, and the development of the Frank/Claire love story is expanded, which is nice, and allows Frank to do more than bring a Christmas turkey around at the end. The women figure prominently in the film's conclusion, which is touching without being melodramatic.
The final scene of this film is a joyous triumph, in which the end of the "show" coincides with the end of the film. Murray crosses the fourth wall and invites the audience to share in it. The message of redemption and joy rings out loud and clear, and the feeling of the original tale is echoed--"Put a Little Love in Your Heart."
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