So This is Christmas Leftovers: Spirited

2022, Sean Anders (Hot Tub Time Machine) -- Download

What did we watch this one on again? I know its an Apple+ production but it FEELS like something Netflix or Disney would have done.

Anywayz, full disclosure, I have not seen Elf nor do I have any desire to see it. It is an untamed Will Ferrell comedy that just does not appeal to me. I guess untamed Will Ferrell in general, is not something I find funny. Nor untamed Ryan Reynolds either, for that matter. I like them when they are toned down, controlled by the director or writer or... well, not being themselves?

Kent also begins his post with something similar, but more precisely stated, as he is a fan of comedy, like I am a fan of horror. But then he continued, and professed to like the movie much more than I did. I can say I honestly did not like it. Oh sure, it had some scenes and elements that I enjoyed, as it is a Ryan Reynolds vehicle so I know it has a certain charm, but... in general, no thankyou.

So, this is basically a Scroogey along the exact same lines as the Hallmarkie, Ghosts of Christmas Always, which we both watched, in that there is a mystical organization behind the whole A Christmas Carol conceit, full of researchers and ghosts who work to haunt people into being better people. OK, in this one, there is only one team of ghosts, instead of a vast array, but there do seem to be a lot of support staff & researchers. And since there is only one team of Scroogers, there is only one client per year.

Ferrell is Present, at the top of his game, a Ghost who should have retired but keeps on pushing forward, one more year, one more year. The subject of their Scrooge-ing this year is Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds, Dead Pool), not the traditional grumpy dislikeable Scrooge, but more so such an abject self-serving asshole that he does great mundane evil through all his actions. If there was a single mind behind all the trollish Tweets and Reddit posts that enrage people to the point of sharing it with all their friends, then its Clint. The prime example of his malice is that he is engaged to help his niece in her class president campaign, and wins it for her by finding an bad taste video from her opponent's past. They're adolescents so they are expected to do something shameful and, well their past is not that long ago. Anywayz, that he "cancels" a kid shows exactly who he is. And the Scrooge-ing org considers his unredeemable.

This movie is also a musical. And despite not being a guys who dislikes musicals for just being musicals, this one mostly flops for me. The songs barely ever hit, and the transitions are so often jarring. Neither of them are more than decent singers, or dancers. None of it, except the "Good Afternoon!" song, did it for me. And that kind of soured most of the rest of the movie for me.