Morris Anders: Last News

At this point it is almost impossible to count the number of remakes, ripoffs, variations, takeoffs and general thievery on the part of filmmakers riffing on Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol. The latest imitation, Spirited, isn’t even the only new version to debut this season; I can count at least two others still waiting for liftoff as the yuletide tidings continue in 2022. But this one has some real firepower in terms of who is involved with the Apple TV+ original film, chief among them stars Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell, who deliver a take most closely aligned with Bill Murray’s modern 1988 Scrooged, a homage even noted in the rat-a-tat snarky script here by John Morris and Sean Anders (Daddy’s Home), the latter who also directed.