Scrooged (1988)
76%RT Audience Score: 71%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
1 win & 5 nominations total
Scrooged gets by with Bill Murray and a dash of holiday spirit, although it’s hampered by a markedly conflicted tone and an undercurrent of mean-spiritedness
Scrooged is a Christmas classic that’s as timeless as Santa Claus himself. Bill Murray’s performance as the modern-day Scrooge is nothing short of magnificent, and the film’s special effects are surprisingly good for a movie made in the ’80s. Sure, some of the jokes are a bit tacky and mean-spirited, but that’s part of the film’s charm. And who can forget the star-studded cameos? Scrooged is a must-watch for anyone who loves Christmas movies, Bill Murray, or just good old-fashioned holiday cheer.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MPAA / Certificate
PG-13
Year of Release
1988
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 41m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Nov 23, 1988 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 9, 1999
Genre(s)
Holiday/Comedy
Keyword(s)
starring Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, John Glover, Bobcat Goldthwait, David Johansen, directed by Richard Donner, written by Mitch Glazer, Michael O’Donoghue, Holiday, Comedy, Fantasy, PG-13, reviewed by Ryan Murphy, Sheila Benson, Gene Siskel, Duane Byrge, William Thomas, tacky, mean-spirited, modern take on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, successful television executive, cold ambition, curmudgeonly nature, love of his life, fired staff member, Christmas Eve, visited by ghosts, chance to re-evaluate actions, right the wrongs of his past, box office gross of $58.2M, produced by Richard Donner, Art Linson, Paramount Pictures, surround sound, Dolby Stereo, flat aspect ratio
Worldwide gross: $60,329,001
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $154,468,866
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 824
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 16,845,024
US/Canada gross: $60,328,558
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $154,467,732
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 503
US/Canada opening weekend: $13,027,842
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $33,357,025
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 396
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $32,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $81,934,122
Production budget ranking: 511
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $44,121,525
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $28,413,220
ROI to date (est.): 23%
ROI ranking: 1,282
Karen Allen – Claire Phillips
John Forsythe – Lew Hayward
John Glover – Bryce Cummings
Bobcat Goldthwait – Eliot Loudermilk
David Johansen – Ghost of Christmas Past
Director – Richard Donner
Producers – Richard Donner, Art Linson
Writers – Mitch Glazer, Michael O’Donoghue
Director(s)
Richard Donner
Writer(s)
Mitch Glazer, Michael O’Donoghue
Producer(s)
Richard Donner, Art Linson
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
1 win & 5 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (49) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (34) | Rotten (15)
Despite a lengthy wind-up that promises to deliver at least a minor tug at the heart, Scrooged is as sterile as some of the film’s sexist gross-out jokes.
August 17, 2021 | Rating: 2/4
Ryan Murphy
Miami Herald
TOP CRITIC
It’s not a bad notion for a satiric comedy and this one begins well, but then veers entirely out of hand until it’s as over-inflated as its own Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and as funny as a mugging.
November 19, 2019
Sheila Benson
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
On balance… Bill Murray’s lazy humor carries the movie up until his genuinely sweet relationship with an old girlfriend.
November 19, 2019 | Rating: 3/4
Gene Siskel
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
Despite the juicy, on-the-edge craziness, Murray is able to layer his outrageous histrionics with an inner sensibility, making his ultimate transformation not only believable but Christmas-cheer uplifting.
April 7, 2015
Duane Byrge
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
Murray doing what he does best, if you like that sort of thing.
November 9, 2011 | Rating: 3/5
William Thomas
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Tacky in the extreme, this self-congratulatory 1988 film is an exercise in hypocrisy, indulging every form of Christmas exploitation that it pretends to attack, and many of the laughs are forced.
November 27, 2007 | Rating: 1/4
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Scrooged is one of the few times in the history of cinema we see faeries as the complicated, cruel, monstrous, (and sometimes funny) creatures they are – David Bowie’s The Labyrinth being another rare example.
May 23, 2020 | Rating: 5/5
Sezín Koehler
Black Girl Nerds
It’s a missed opportunity, but some gags still hit the mark and there’s a stream of starry cameos…
November 19, 2019 | Rating: 3/5
John Ferguson
Radio Times
Scrooged is, indeed, phenomenally loud, and also very mean, and somehow also ultimately heartening, in a loopy yuletide sort of way.
November 27, 2018
Rob Harvilla
The Ringer
Still, Murray is magnificent in the film, the effects are better than you’d expect, and the 1988 version of Hollywood excess is almost quaint by comparison with the CGI purgatory we live in today.
December 15, 2017
Sean Nelson
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
It would be hard to improve upon the classic, after all, and Scrooged not only sticks to the Dickens plot, but makes it believable as a modern fable. But the more difficult part of Scrooged is its modernization, the colorization of Dickens, if you will.
December 9, 2017
Cathy Burke
United Press International
Murray, it’s clear today, was the perfect Scrooge of the ’80s.
December 29, 2015 | Rating: 5/5
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com…
Plot
Francis Xavier Cross is a cynical, mean spirited television executive, he treats his loyal assistant with contempt. He just sacked a member of staff on Christmas Eve for simply disagreeing with him, and he’s alienated himself from his brother who still insists on inviting Frank to Christmas dinner despite him refusing to go every year. However, Frank is forced to learn the true meaning of Christmas when he’s visited by three ghosts.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film Scrooged on Fresh Kernels.
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