Scrooged (1988)

A cold hearted television network executive (Bill Murray) has little love for the Christmas season although he is producing a live version of Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL on Christmas Eve. But his long deceased boss (John Forsythe) arrives from the hereafter and tells him that he will be visited by three ghosts from the past (David Johansen), the present (Carol Kane) and the future (Robert Hammond). Directed by Richard Donner (THE OMEN), this modern retelling of the perennial Charles Dickens classic reputation has increased over the years to the point that, perhaps ironically, it's also a perennial Christmas favorite. It's an alternative to the usual sentimental Christmas fare although it succumbs to sentimentality itself in the film's last 15 minutes or so. Murray, a master at cynicism, is perfectly cast as a modern day Scooge and the film has a high rate of wicked (and often non PC) laughs. It could have been better (even Murray felt that) but it's good enough. The huge cast includes Robert Mitchum, Karen Allen, Alfre Woodard, Lee Majors, Buddy Hackett, Michael J. Pollard, Bobcat Goldthwait, John Glover and Wendie Malick.