The Muppets Christmas Carol

Ebenezer Scrooge does not care for the so-called "surplus population". He's actually quite clear about it. In Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, when Scrooge is petitioned by two do-gooders trying to help the poor, he barks at them that "if [the poor] would rather die [than go to poor houses] they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population!" That famous line is uttered verbatim by this version of Scrooge played by Michael Caine in the 1992 musical, The Muppets Christmas Carol. It shouldn't be that surprising; the same line is often kept in high school productions of the famous story, as well, like the school play featured in a fascinating episode of Planet Money two years ago that details Dickens using his cruel character to represent the views of economist Thomas Robert Malthus, whom Dickens found to promote inhumane, misanthropic economic ideas at a time when so many were suffering. But it surprised and impressed the adult me that The Jim Henson Productions decided to keep such a line in their adaption.

The kid version of me always liked The Muppets Christmas Carol, the first Muppets movie without founder Jim Henson (whom, along with puppeteer Richard Hunt, the film is dedicated to) and the first to be distributed by Disney. Despite its use of the famous line described above, this is a non-restrictive adaption of this famous story because, well, most of the characters are played by Muppets. Kermit the Frog (Steve Whitmire) is Bob Cratchit, and predictably his wife is played by Miss Piggy (Frank Oz, who also served as executive producer of this film and directed Caine four years prior in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels). Other than that, this adaption largely follows Dickens' story, which is important. Children, the target audience of the film (and perhaps one day the novella), may grow up to be considerably less mean than Scrooge, but that may be because famous, universal stories like these are so didactic. Toning down everything by having Scrooge be a little nicer and having everything be perfectly cheery would have been a mistake.

It seems unnecessary to detail the story and plot of this movie. Practically everybody knows about Dickens' famous tale, how a miserly grinch named Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three spirits (the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Future) to warn him that his cruel ways shall have consequences. Surely, every viewer can envy Scrooge for such a gift to see not only the past and future but also what people are truly saying behind their backs in the present. Such tactics are necessary, for Scrooge, a ruthless banker who underpays his workers, has such a negative effect on everything. Things seem to get quite dark and cold as soon as Scrooge, or "Mr. Humbug", as the Muppets sing, walks hurriedly to his office. 

Scenes can get pretty spooky at times in Scrooge's journey to understand his terrible ways, especially when the fire extinguishes and the ghosts appear and haunt Scrooge in his own home. In The Muppets Christmas Carol, the Ghost of Jacob Marley is now the ghosts of Jacob and Robert Marley, played by Statler and Waldorf (performed by Jerry Nelson and Dave Goelz, respectively). The creepy tone doesn't stop when they exit, however. The Ghost of Christmas Past (a ghastly animated doll voiced by Jessica Fox) and the reaper-like Ghost of Christmas Future (puppeteered by Robert Tygner and performed in-suit by Don Austen) are also unearthly.  

The film, though, is definitely a comedy, one that's as humorous as the Muppets can make it. The gags and pratfalls (things like Rizzo the Rat falling into a bucket of frozen water or a Muppet cat crashing into a suddenly closed door) will likely still get quite a few laughs from children, but adults will at least appreciate the spoken humor. Screenwriter and longtime Muppets collaborator Jerry Juhl's script employs that famous Muppets wit. 

Additionally, the production design by Val Strazovec and art decoration by Dennis Bosher and Alan Cassie are exemplary. (It's also clever. Look closely as Caine sings "Thankful Heart" in town and you'll see a store called Micklewhite's. Michael Caine's real name is Maurice Micklewhite.) Other production elements that deserve praise are Miles Goodman's score and the songs by Paul Williams, especially "Scrooge", "Thankful Heart", "When Loves is Found", and "It Feels Like Christmas", sung wonderfully by Nelson as the Ghost of Christmas Present. One song that was controversially omitted from the theatrical version was "When Love Is Gone", sung by Scrooge and his fiancé, Belle (Meredith Braun) in the scene from his past. Disney is the one who has been blamed for that, apparently believing that the song wouldn't appeal to young children. However, the lost piece of film was finally found earlier this month.   

Caine's singing is so-so; he's able to carry a tune but sometimes is a bit flat. It doesn't matter. This isn't Abba or Les Misérables. He's singing with Muppets, so he's allowed to have imperfect pitch and range. Besides his singing, his acting is terrific. Caine is completely believable as Scrooge before and after his transformation and enlightenment, able to depict Scrooge's cruelty, curiosity, and compassion with ease. The sharpness in which he delivers the lines is also that of a master in his field. When Kermit diplomatically reminds Scrooge that the latter wants eviction notices to be sent out on Christmas, Scrooge replies, "Very well. You may gift-wrap them." The acidity in his delivery is remarkable. Caine, delightfully, likes the movie as much as you do, telling interviewer Lauren Larson that he still watches it all the time with his younger family members. He took the work seriously, too, claiming at the time that he approached the project as if he were working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. It doesn't matter if he's with Kermit and Miss Piggy; he appears as if he's very devoted to his craft while also having a ball.   

As will most people watching this film. It may not be the most rambunctious Muppets production, but it works. For many, it's actually the best adaption of the famous story. Children should see it (preferably with the recently found footage). They'll laugh, they'll be frightened from time to time, and they'll at least learn that people are people; sometimes they struggle, but they should never be written off as "surplus". 

Dedicated to Mary, my mother, a fan of this movie.

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Now You See Me

In college, I was assigned a story to review a magic act taking place at Kent State, the school I attended. The act featured a man named Joshua Seth, a hypnotist who showed us in the audience a video of a young girl whose phobia of dental procedures was eradicated through Seth's hypnotism. Seth, I wrote, entered the stage as if he were a rock star, then proceeded to hypnotize almost twenty students. He hypnotized them to react to changes in the room temperature only they could feel, play instruments to the William Tell Overture, and he somehow got the males to give birth while the female nurses assisted. It was all a heck of a lot of fun to watch, and I haven't even mentioned the volunteers rapping in Japanese. After the show, I interviewed two of the participants. One was a physics major (one of the more rational, logic-oriented majors out there) who told me that "it was real--no acting." When I asked the second student, a biology major, if she was skeptical at first, she replied, "Skeptical as hell--that's why I did it! "It's like tripping out," Seth told me afterwards, "but without the drugs." And the whole time I sat there wondering how he did it.

That's ultimately what's wrong with Louis Leterrier's "Now You See Me," a film about magicians who act as Robin Hoods by robbing banks. With a magic act, the majority of us have no idea how the tricks are performed. With this movie, it's simple: computer generated imagery. The latter used to be magical. We've all seen movies that have had such a, well, magical effect largely due to its visuals. Think of the first time you saw "Jurassic Park," the movie that pioneered such effects, or the "Harry Potter" movies (about magic, of course). A century ago, moviegoers supposedly ran out of theaters thinking the ocean waves were going to crash through the screen onto them or that they would be shot by cowboys. Georges Melies was the finest of these early pioneers. "The inventor of numerous illusions," as his epitaph states, Melies was literally a magician and incorporated some of these magical acts into his movies, the most famous being "A Trip to the Moon" in 1902. Filmmakers have, for the most part, abandoned Melies-esque zeal for innovative visual effects in movies. Consider one of the first scenes in "Now You See Me," where Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) shows the audience a card trick. We're told, as we would for almost any card trick, to look at the cards and find one with our eyes. As this was happening, one could hear whispers throughout the theater of people telling each other that they all saw the same card, and I, as I was for Joshua Seth, wondered how the filmmakers did that. A second later, though, I was simply angry because the card trick was abandoned for a CGI effect, which didn't impress me. "Now You See Me" is essentially a magic movie with no magic in it.

This isn't to say that it is not fun. The actors here are generally a joy to watch. Consider the cast--Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Kelly. They've all, particularly in the past decade, made better movies and given better performances. But they're given here some fun stuff and fast, old-fashioned dialogue, and they seem to be enjoying themselves. Particularly noteworthy is Melanie Laurent, who plays the Interpol agent assigned to the case with Ruffalo's character. She's terrific in everything she's been in, including this one.  (You might recognize her from "Inglorious Basterds" and "Beginners.") Additionally, Dave Franco sometimes steals the show, and I suspect we'll see a lot more good things from him in the movies. But it's not simply our four protagonists and those chasing them who are interesting; it's virtually every character. Caine plays Arthur Tressler, a wealthy insurance company owner financing the magic act (called the Four Horsemen). In a duller script, his would basically be a glorified cameo. Instead, his character is interesting, and he's not quite who he seems to be. In fact, none of these characters are. This is a mysterious, who-stole-it caper movie, part "The Prestige," part "The Da Vinci Code," and part "The Sting."

The plot has numerous holes and requires a serious suspension of disbelief, but it is tolerable nonetheless.  Dylan Rhodes (Ruffalo) tries to piece together how these four (Eisenberg, Fisher, Harrelson, and Franco) are robbing banks during magic acts. The first one involves the Four Horsemen transporting an audience member from Las Vegas to Paris so he can help them rob a bank. Rhodes is skeptical of magic, and yet its the magicians who are having the most fun at his expense.  It gets to the point where you feel bad for him, a respectable detective being embarrassed by a magic act. But that's when the movie is at its most enjoyable, especially the second of three performances, taking place in New Orleans (with some more humorous hypnotism). Rhodes is repeatedly told how stupid he is by Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), a professional magician debunker who is perfectly capable of revealing how these magicians are committing their acts.  

So ultimately this is a movie with mixed reactions. I enjoyed the actors, and the story kept my attention, despite its plot holes. But then there's the final five minutes or so. Movies like this seem like they're entitled to twist the story for one final surprise, but this ending contains probably the worst twist ending I have ever seen. I want to repeat that: it's probably the worst twist I have ever seen. It's so unbelievably stupid, so insulting to the rest of the movie. It's not even deus ex machina; it's more like the deus just said, "To hell with it--I give up." So what rating should it be given? A very, very marginal approval. It's a fun movie, if you can tolerate some stupid things (and the lack of authentic magic).           



film, movie, movies, cinema, now you see me, morgan freeman, michael caine, jesse eisenberg, franco, rufffalo, magic

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