The Wandering Viking

The attempt was admirable, much of the cast well done. But casting someone who can be cartoonish with wild overacting in the lead without reigning him in for a dramatic character was ruinous. The oft-times equally - delightfully - manic Robin Williams was an Academy Award winner when he showed his warm heart. Ebenezer changed from his cold heart when he was shown what he became from who he truly was...and what affect it had on others. This corruption of Dickens' classic Christmas tale gave in to mania, perhaps in equal parts because of catering to its lead, and because it was done for 3-D effects. Much of the crazed, in-your-face wildness is because you were to be not only immersed in the story, but taken for a Mr Toad's Wild Ride meets Space Mountain. Scrooge gets bounced along any and everything the creators could imagineer, at one point somehow shrinking to fit into & skitter through a wastepipe....and then Another. Not surprisingly, the true story suffers along the way. Dreadfully. If much of that could be exorcised, this attempt, like the main character, could be redeemed. And repair the unforgivable edit of slicing to 2 lines (??!!) Ebenezer's famous, classic Christmas morning declaration: "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world!" The settings here are an exceedingly well-done visit to Victorian London & it's holiday traditions. You can almost smell the Christmas goose. The animation is astounding. The faces alas, were state-of-the art for their time, but now - like the Polar Express - they can be revealed as eerily stiff, blank & downright creepy. If, on this year's 180th Anniversary of Charles Dickens' classic tale, you'd like something more faithful, check out the like-titled black & white version with the amazing Alistair Simm in the lead. (Blooper-watch!! Look carefully in the mirror, screen right, when Scrooge is looking to make sure he's still alive Christmas morning, and you'll see a stage hand caught in the reflection!). If you care for a more delightful, slightly less in keeping with the book's ending, seek out Albert Finney in the Wonderful musical "Scrooge," done by the same ingenious British creators of the classic (also musical) "Oliver!" Enjoy, and God Bless us, everyone!

Was looking forward to another "New Amsterdam." Lead had a warm face,John Hannah's always good,but it never got out of the restaurant. Incredibly poor set looked like prop dept had never been in ethnic eatery. I'd never go thereplace for take out. Bash kept furtively looking/wandering about the sparse place.Same thing he'd do for next 2/3rds of the show in the ER. Like 20min script filling an hour. Worst line: "I was never supportive(of mom)." An analysis, not emotion. Telling...

Hoping for Cena's entry to the Kindergarten Cop/The Pacifier/Journey to the Center of the World beefcake tenderizer, I should have expected what was to follow when the Nickelodeon production logo filled the screen. A barely-written emotional story line existed merely to thread the overly-written gagging, eye-rolling potty humor immature filler. I sat there wondering why I paid to see a child's half-hour sitcom unedited to fill a movie timeslot. And then there was that line about the way a smokejumper should go from this life - extra crispy. Like those heros who died a few years ago, & a movie was made honoring them. NOT appropriate in any movie, especially a children's childish broad comedy. Sad waste of film...and my time. Kind of like the talented Brendan Fraser in Dudley Doright. What were they thinking.

Well-acted apologistic sympathy ploy about an egotist who betrayed the trust of those closest to him, showing the country no one should trust him. Misguided film tries to make an arrogant political hopeful seem like a victim of the pushy press corps, whom he baited and even challenged, so self-assured was he in his own indiscreet world. Hart dared them to discover his dark not-so-secret betrayal. He was a post JFK/Teddy, pre Clinton wannabe - hormones ruled over sense and character. Monkey Business said it all.