A Christmas Carol was produced for ITV in the UK. Ross Kemp was allegedly a driving force in getting this film made, as he is a fan of the story. It was his first big role since EastEnders.
Unfortunately everything about it just strikes the wrong tone. It's set on Alexandra Road council estate in Camden. A popular filming location for "urban films". It just looks drab and soulless. Even Eddie Scrooge's flat which is supposed to look modern, looks like they set-dressed a carpark.
Scrooge as the loan shark is a good idea, but Kemp doesn't have the acting chops to pull off the more intense scenes and it is reduced to looking camp. That's the issue it's tries hard to be funny, but also serious and it doesn't do either well. It's seems like they were trying to attract a family audience; most violence is off screen and only mild swearwords, but trying to make it dark.
There's a fine supporting cast with Liz Smith and Mina Anwar who are always good value. I'm not sure if Warren Mitchell is an inspired choice as Scrooge's father or not.
The whole production looks cheaper than it is, with only a few locations and some terrible special effects even for a 2000 TV movie. The ghosts don't even look like ghosts just men in chains.
All that said, I didn't hate it. It's not a turkey, but it needed longer to cook and a sharper script.
Unfortunately everything about it just strikes the wrong tone. It's set on Alexandra Road council estate in Camden. A popular filming location for "urban films". It just looks drab and soulless. Even Eddie Scrooge's flat which is supposed to look modern, looks like they set-dressed a carpark.
Scrooge as the loan shark is a good idea, but Kemp doesn't have the acting chops to pull off the more intense scenes and it is reduced to looking camp. That's the issue it's tries hard to be funny, but also serious and it doesn't do either well. It's seems like they were trying to attract a family audience; most violence is off screen and only mild swearwords, but trying to make it dark.
There's a fine supporting cast with Liz Smith and Mina Anwar who are always good value. I'm not sure if Warren Mitchell is an inspired choice as Scrooge's father or not.
The whole production looks cheaper than it is, with only a few locations and some terrible special effects even for a 2000 TV movie. The ghosts don't even look like ghosts just men in chains.
All that said, I didn't hate it. It's not a turkey, but it needed longer to cook and a sharper script.