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neiljeffery1
Reviews
Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (2022)
Watch the Albert Finney version instead.
When I heard there was a new version of a Leslie Bricusse's musical I was intrigued, so I watched it.
CGI, music, great songs... I was really looking forward to revisiting one of my favourite stories.
Well, I am torn. While it is admirable that another version of the story has been made (I love the story), this is a very superficial telling. The CGI is clearly well done, but still manages to feel flat, and it feels that money has been thrown at animation without using any budget to create any warmth, so basically you end up not caring less about any of the characters.
Finally, I must mention the music. If you are going to have a new film version of the musical, at least put some of the songs in it. It's bare, and feels like a musical by numbers with little effort.
Avoid.
Sleepers (1991)
Watch this, comrade!
I do wish this was available! The whole premise is that 2 Soviet sleeper agents are activated just as the Cold War is entering its last thaw. Clarke and Havers are well-known character actors in the UK and they do a great job - personality clashes and differences in outlook. Kanska does a good job in a thankless role, as the KGB officer sent to find them.
The whole idea of two men who are strangers in a country but who have become so accustomed to life that they feel more at home in their new land than their old homeland may sound dry and turgid, but here it is done with such an adept touch that this is just a brilliant, gentle, heart-warming comedy - but a light comedy drama, not a belly-laugh joke-fest. If ever you get the chance to watch it - see it, comrade!