A Carol Christmas (2003)

Very Cool!!!

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 400 Christmas MOVIES. BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 400 Christmas MOVIES. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM FARE. THE REASON WHY I REVIEW THEM IS TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT I HAVE SEEN!Every year there seems to be 2-3 new versions of "A Christmas Carol". Since the original property is in public domain (Meaning anybody exploit material at no cost) I am afraid that we will forever see new spins on the story however I hope that are not as bad as this version. Tori Spelling is front and center in this edition. She plays a cheap self centered talk show host who abuses her staff and has very little to do with her own family,The screenplay here is just awful. There is not a consistent tone to any of it. The tweaks from the original book are just not good.Because the story of " A Christmas Carol" is well known to everyone its a problem that this film can not solve. Because we all know the story we know what is going to happen. There is no surprise element. Because there is huge lack of discovery. The film seems to run longer than the 85 minutes that it is. I will say Tori does an okay job. I have seen this story now told too many times now. If anybody wants to watch a good adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" then watch the 1938 Version. Its b/w and it is the versions that all further adaptions used as a template.

A TV version of Scrooged, effectively, and the 1001th version of Dicken's A Christmas Carol! Tori Spelling is the eponymous Carol, a selfish TV Chat Show host.This really does have iconic TV actors, Star Trek's William Shatner, Different Strokes' Gary Coleman, Lois and Clark's Michael Landes, The West Wing's Nina Siemaszko and in an uncredited role, James Cromwell.Its the support cast that make the movie tolerable rather than Tori Spelling. I don't know her for her acting career, just for her being Aaron Spelling's daughter, and general tabloid fodder.The movie is typical TV mulch, and tries too hard to be a lot like Scrooged, momentarily funny, but not laugh-out-loud.So, yeah, One time viewing, its fine, but for repeats, definitely choose the superior Scrooged.

Can someone please explain to me why Tori Spelling keeps on getting roles? Actors - and actresses - get work for one of two reasons (a) they have talent, or (b) they are beautiful/handsome/cute/etc. Tori Spelling doesn't even come close to qualifying on either criterion - she has all the talent of Hulk Hogan and the looks of, well, Hulk Hogan. So what is going on here? However, imagine my surprise when I watched this film - it is actually not too bad. My assessment has nothing to do with Tori Spelling - she is just as dreadful in this as she has been in everything else I've seen featuring her. The upside of this effort is a surprisingly good performance by another perennial disappointment - William Shatner. He may be an icon due to his role in the Star Trek series but William has, in my view, always been a terrible ham - overacting painfully whenever the opportunity has presented itself. But in this film his performance is clever and sharp. In fact, it is watchable almost solely due to his surprisingly witty contribution. Even Gary Coleman, definitely a contender for the worst actor of all time, manages to outshine Spelling with some reasonable delivery. So, if you are looking for a way to kill 90 minutes or so - and can turn a blind eye to Tori Spelling's trade mark incompetence - this movie is probably an option.

This is hardly Oscar material but it is a pleasant diversion that you can safely watch with your kids during the holidays.The setting in the context of a reality talk show production is a nice twist on the Christmas Carol genre.Your kids won't understand the poignancy of Gary Coleman's appearance in this movie but you may. Gary mentions the dearth of acting roles for an actor of his height. Gary gets a lot of screen time and I enjoyed that. William Shatner did a decent job in a self-deprecating role.Tori Spelling was solid in her lead role.Good lesson in "keeping people waiting"Nice pay-off at the end of the movie. Of course, we expect a Christmas Carol remake to have a happy ending. Ghost of Christmas Future was the weakest segment but it was short.The reality show producer playing bad guy in Christmas past and good guy at the end of the movie was a bit confusing.For those two reasons I had to knock off a point from 6 to 5.Caught this thanks to recent play on premium cable.