Spirited is a modern musical take on A Christmas Carol but takes the perspective of the ghosts on Apple TV+. Will Ferrell stars as the Ghost of Christmas Present while Ryan Reynolds stars as Clint Briggs the one the spirits try to redeem. The movie is a lot of fun and has some nice twists and turns and nods to Christmas classics even Elf.
The movie sees the ghosts from A Christmas Carol but it is run like a business and every year someone is selected to be redeemed and for the spiral of goodness from redeeming the person for the betterment of mankind. When Present stumbles on Clint Briggs he attempts to redeem someone who was deemed unredeemable. Clint is not an easy nut to crack and forces Present to look at his life and decisions in a bit of a reversal.
The movie is a lot of fun and with musicals you are never quite sure what you are going to get. This movie has some fun musical numbers and is an interesting take on the Charles Dickens classic story. Ryan Reynolds as Clint Briggs plays a Chris Brander from Just Friends but cranked up higher. Will Ferrell puts on a strong performance as Present even showcasing the temper in a scene or two as he has been known to do. Octavia Spencer is good in her small role as Kimberly, the love interest of Spirit while Marlow Barkley does well as Wren.
Spirited is good fun for the family and while I do not see it becoming a staple of the holidays like Ferrell’s turn in Elf I feel it will become a recurring thing families may watch every so often.
Final Grade: 8/10
-Everett
