Jim Carrey is not the "star" of this latest update of the seminal Charles Dickens' classic. Sure, he plays several roles, including all three Christmas ghosts (Past, Present, and Future) and the original Grinch himself, Ebenezer Scrooge. No, the real hero of this unique telling of this well known holiday tale is Robert Zemeckis and his newfound devotion to 3D CG animation. Following in the same cinematic footsteps as The Polar Express and Beowulf, the Oscar winning director does as much as he can to take an old Victorian morality tale and juice it up with plenty of action. No matter how hard he tries, the casting keeps getting in the way.

The story stays the same, however. Scrooge is still an incredible miser who thinks Christmas is a "hum-bug" -- and he takes any and every opportunity to let a bleak and dismal London know it. He is particularly harsh on his only living relative, a well-meaning nephew Fred (Colin Firth) and his sole employee, a lowly clerk named Bob Cratchit (Gary Oldman). Late on December 24th, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his dead partner Jacob Marley (Oldman again). The specter warns that he will be visited by three spirits, entities intending to take him on a journey through holidays long ago, current, and yet to be. It is here where we learn of Scrooge's hard life as a child, the miserable state of the Cratchit home (including sick son Tiny Tim), and the dark and dire destiny that faces our sour skinflint, less he repent.

A Christmas Carol, while inventive and often breathtaking, is burdened by one almost irredeemable flaw -- its lead. It’s clear that Jim Carrey is no longer in command of his acting abilities. He doesn't create a character here so much as reduce Scrooge to several over the top gestures and some insufferable mugging. Had Zemeckis seen fit to hire a talent on par with Oldman (just great), Firth, or Bob Hoskins (who is excellent as initial Scrooge employer Fezziwig), we'd have something that is both technologically spectacular and emotionally sound. As it stands, Carrey must rely on the goodwill he's built up over the years to keep the audience on his side -- and sometimes, he just doesn't have enough of it to succeed.

Thanks to its brilliant art design, unusual antique British political cartoon look to the characters, and an overall emphasis on the visual side of things, A Christmas Carol still works. We get caught up in the atmosphere of joy and good tidings, shiver at the bitter English winter-scapes, and stare is wide-eyed wonder as Zemeckis flies us over the London rooftops, dipping and weaving between chimneys and down back alleys. The 3D gimmick is very effective throughout, giving certain sequences a real depth and sense of scope and no one handles thrills better than the man responsible for Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Yet some of the filmmaker's decisions seem specious. Why give Carrey so many roles when he barely manages to make one memorable? Why downplay the Cratchit family (the true heart of the story), or better still, treat Scrooge's failed romance with love of his life Belle (Robin Wright Penn) as an afterthought? Did we really need the slapstick sequence involving a miniaturized version of our lead and the city's sewer system? While the best version of A Christmas Carol remains the remarkable 1970 musical Scrooge, this decent update definitely wins in the "wow" category. If you're looking for something that captures the true spirit of the holidays, however, this high tech update is all science and little sentiment.

Aka Disney's A Christmas Carol.



Coal: It's what's for dinner.