Christmas-Reviewer 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.

LindaShermanGordon 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.

lastliberal Needless to say, I am a big fan of Dicken's story, and have seen many versions. Susan Lucci did the best "female" portrayal in Ebbie, but I would not dismiss the fine performance of Tori Spelling, someone I initially would not consider worth watching.I am a little biased in this one as her love interest (Jason Brooks) is a social worker.The story does not need retelling, as most are familiar with it. It is a story that embodies the real spirit of the holiday. How could anyone not "reform" after being visited by the Ghosts of Christmas, played comically and wonderfully here by Gary Coleman and William Shatner.A very interesting twist here substituting Tiny Tim's affliction with a custody battle. It was nice seeing Nina Siemaszko (Ellie Bartlet from "The West Wing") again.

rick-centner Each year, the Christmas/Chanukah season sees a plethora of new and reissued movies celebrating the holidays. Some are groaners, a few are terrific (such as "Comfort and Joy" elevated by Nancy McKeon and Steven Eckholt's performances), and a handful make seasonal films worth taking a chance on. "A Carol Christmas" is one of these. I almost skipped it because of Tori Spelling, but can't resist checking out the latest "Christmas Carol" pastiches. Tori's acting was better here than what I've seen previously to about the same degree that the reformed Carol was to the "bad" Carol. Gary Coleman, as the Ghost of Christmas Past, was surprisingly and wisely understated. Willam Shatner, whose "real life" counterpart was a Dr. Phil send-up, was campy as usual. But writer Tom Amundsen cleverly managed to fit the ghost's campiness within the "real world" of the story. Dinah Manoff was outstanding as the conniving Aunt Marla, on whose machinations the plot revolves. Initially, Jason Brooks struck me as an odd choice for Carol's love interest, but he won me over. The key to the success of "A Carol Christmas," in my opinion, is the fact that Amundsen, who wrote several episodes of the classic series "Perfect Strangers," combined some excellent comedy with a somewhat gentle touch when it came to copying Dickens' original. He was also restrained without being coy in the way he made his points about the moral messages in the film. "A Carol Christmas" is, in my opinion, far better than several big screen Christmas releases of the past two or three years, in which major stars have strained and struggled with overblown scripts in efforts that yielded precious few real laughs. A tip of the hat as well to the always reliable Michael Landes, and Nina Siemanszko (recurring in the Mystery Woman series on Hallmark). They and other supporting cast members gave this surprisingly good Christmas film a realism and poignancy that left us with smile on our lips and a warm feeling in our hearts.