It should be noted that not all bad people had bad experiences that made them that way. I know of more than one that is a horrible person because they were allowed to be horrible as children and never face consequences as adults.
9
I'll watch anything with Charlotte Riley, but who decided to change her name from Fan to Lottie, as Scrooge's sister. And, why?
3
I get that villain origin tales are all the rage but I don’t think we needed this one. Long live the true Dickens.
4
He's just repeating what the Patrick Stewart movie version of "A Christmas Carol" did several years back - show more background of Scrooge's story as a child and young man so we get a sense of what led him to become what he finally became and was when the Three Ghosts and his dead buddy Marley visited him.
Alastair Sim and the 1951 version, forever.
6
Knight is brilliant. I expect this version, while not supplanting earlier ones, will be excellent.
4
I assume that no mice were harmed in the making of the film.
2
Adapting a literary work for another time is one thing, and that can work. Erasing the central premise of the original in order to flog one's own philosophy is another thing. The redemption in the original isn't a feel-good gimmick or evidence of the constraints of Victorian culture; it's the whole point.
12
Scott’s performance is terrific but still lean to the 1951 film as the all time greatest. What a story of redemption.
6
A Christmas Carol is my absolute favorite Christmas story (and movie-- the George C. Scott version from 1984). Though I'm always up for any new version, this account does not inspire excitement. The director admits to choosing the story because it's the right length and people seem to like it. The lead actor says that "nobody ever thinks about Scrooge". Well, some of us actually do, sirs, and we see a depth of character and thought-provoking transformation in the original story that is rare and timeless. Trying to embellish it with a "Scrooge prequel" is not a bad idea-- it's always good for audiences to keep an open mind about such things. But I'm wary of a version that comes from people who don't even really seem to get the original or have any sincere attachment to it.
16
@Liz Agree. And I love the George C. Scott version too. The whole point of the tale is the redemption of a sinner. Without that moment of joy, the tale would lose its purpose. Will have to see.
11
@Liz
My favorite is Alistair Sim's "Scrooge" from the 1950s.
4