Coffee Break with Liz and Kate

Kate’s Reviews:

Reel reviews for real people

Rating: PG for scary sequences and images

Genre: Children

Starring: Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins

Plot: You know the Christmas Carol story. This time, Director Robert Zemeckis (THE POLAR EXPRESS) continues to work his holiday magic with A CHRISTMAS CAROL. This 3-D adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic will use the motion capture technology… director Robert Zemeckis (THE POLAR EXPRESS) continues to work his holiday magic with A CHRISTMAS CAROL. This 3-D adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic uses the motion capture technology previously seen in the filmmaker’s BEOWULF.

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Running time: 1:35

Kate says:  3 1/2 stars “I do love a good holiday movie!  This version of A Christmas Carol is visually stunning, fast paced and action packed.  I really like the look of Zemeckis motion capture technology.  I should tell you that I did not see this movie in 3D, however.  On the negative side, I thought the movie was somewhat lacking in the warm, cozy, happy Christmas feeling that I like in my holiday movies.  Here’s a big warning for parents of small or sensitive kiddies – because of the look of this movie, the naturally scary parts of the story are taken to a whole new level.  There were lots of scared smaller kids in my theater.  The scariness is probably not counteracted enough by the brief happy ending.”

Ebert says: 4 stars “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” by Robert Zemeckis (and Charles Dickens, of course) is an exhilarating visual experience and proves for the third time he’s one of the few directors who knows what he’s doing with 3-D.So should you take the kiddies? Hmmm. I’m not so sure. When I was small, this movie would have scared the living ectoplasm out of me. Today’s kids have seen more and are tougher. Anyway, “A Christmas Carol” has the one quality parents hope for in a family movie: It’s entertaining for adults.” (read full review)

Eric Snider says: C “The fear many of us had when it was announced Jim Carrey would play Ebenezer Scrooge and other parts in Robert Zemeckis’ adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” was that Carrey’s clowning would turn the story into a goofy farce. This fear turns out to have been unfounded. If anything, the opposite is true: The film has no personality at all, not Carrey’s or anyone else’s.” (read full review)

Rotten Tomatoes says: 54% “Consensus: Robert Zemeckis’ 3-D animated take on the Dickens classic tries hard, but its dazzling special effects distract from an array of fine performances from Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman.”

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