From the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy, It's Retro Nerd Girl with a film review for you.
Today I'll be reviewing the movie A Diva's Christmas Carol released in 2000.
Starring:
Vanessa Williams, Rozonda 'Chilli' Thomas, John Taylor, Kathy Griffin, and Brian McNamara
Directed by:
Richard Schenkman
Genre:
Comedy, Musical, Fantasy
Rating:
PG
Budget:
N/A
IMDb Rating is currently:
6.4
The Synopsis is:
A Diva pop singer, Ebony Scrooge gets a visit by spirits and ghosts to change were Ebeneezer ways.
Story:
This movie is one of the many adaptations of the Charles Dickens classic book, A Christmas Carol and is a made for TV movie aired on December 13, 2000 on VH-1.
They must have played it a million times that December because I remember watching it over and over. Later in 2002, Paramount Pictures released the film on DVD.
What I love about this version of the story are the changes that were made, but keeping the heart of the story the same.
Some people rumored at the time that the story an exaggerated parody of the famous songstress Diana Ross. A Diva's Christmas Carol also has a backstory for Ebony with a Dreamgirls-esque side story, another inspired story about the Diana Ross and her time with the girl group the Supremes.
The film also included a few time stamps for the era such as the wonderful VH-1 TV shows, Behind the Music and VH-1 Where Are They Now? Popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The dialogue ranges from really witty and fun, but then at times some of the jokes were wedged in the dialogue too awkwardly. But on the most part is funny to me.
Pacing:
It says 2 hours on IMDb, but the movie is actually an hour and 28 minutes. It moves fast and it hits all of the notes to tell the story.
Challenge:
The challenge in this story is Ebony Scrooge. It’s strange to have the hero of the movie, be the villain, but there is no doubt that she the negative force.
She is obnoxious, stingy, spoiled, demanding and selfish. She is impossible to please and everyone around her is at their wit's end trying.
Unfortunately, for Ebony, the reason why she hates Christmas is because she has had so many bad experiences on them. And there is a lot of people out there like that.
At the heart of it, one of the Christmases she and her brother were separated and we discover that she is a reflection of her father's abuse and lack of affection towards her. It’s one of the most touching scenes that made me cry.
Now, Ebony believes that “Family is an accident at birth.” and all of the people are in her life are there to abuse.
She hates Christmas and thinks that it is the perfect time to push her album sales.
Ebony and her shiesty accountant, Ernie arrange to cash in on Christmas by hosting a concert for charity and using the money as a tax write off.
But behind Ebony’s back Ernie has hand in the pot too, making this union a greedy match made in heaven.
Empathy:
Bob Crachit, has worked as Ebony’s tour manager for 13 years and is right hand man who enables her. He is more vocal than the usual depictions of Crachit, but that is because his character is a conglomeration of two of Dicken’s characters, Bob Crachit and Ebenizer’s fiance Belle.
Bob used to be Ebony’s boyfriend, before she left him for her career. He’s far from home in Cleveland, where his wife and sickly son, wait for him to come home, for what could be their last Christmas together.
Tiny Tim is just Tim. He initially seems like a normal boy, but a mysterious illness is making him sicker and sicker. There isn’t a lot of time spent on this character, but he is the antithesis of Bob’s fuel to stand up to Ebony at least for this one Christmas.
Ebony’s brother died, but her only family is his daughter Olivia, which she could care less. Remember, Ebony thinks family is an accident at birth.
In fact, when Olivia invites Ebony to her home for Christmas, Ebony asks her, what does she need… money? And she doesn’t understand that Olivia just wants to honor the memory and teachings of her father by reaching out to Ebony and let her know that she is not alone in the world. What a sweet character.
Technical:
Technically the movie is OK.
There is a small amount of CGI that was not great but no worse than some of the low budget films today.
They cut corners by not showing a lot of special effect moments such as Marli’s unmasking moment.
And the production, you can tell didn't have a lot of money but they did what they could with what they had and it didn’t get in the way of the story.
I really enjoyed the score for this movie. It starts out very plucky and fun, then it turns very Danny Elfman-esque. It was quite charmingly pulled of by composer Christopher Lennertz
Vanessa Williams was a very accomplished singer and sang the songs for the movie's soundtrack, including the original songs "Heart of Christmas" and "Heartquake" (featuring Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas).
Vanessa also sings a remake of the 1948 holiday classic "Sleigh Ride".
Those songs really make this movie special to me.
Performances:
The performances were good, but surprising for the time. VH1 put together this special with 3 well known music industry figures as actors and they all did a well.
Vanessa Williams was great as Ebony Scrooge. Before this movie Vanessa was known for being a sweetie, so no one expected this performance from her. It really shocked and entertained. But, if you are seeing this movie now for the first time, its no big whoop, because she has played a meanie in the TV show Ugly Betty from 2006 to 2010.
It’s still an amazing performance though, because she conveys all of the phases of Scrooge very well.
Rozonda 'Chilli' Thomas plays Ebony’s stage mate Marli Jacob in her acting debut and does well.
Duran, Duran’s John Taylor plays the party animal Ghost of Christmas Present
Kathy Griffin plays the hilarious Ghost of Christmas Past. I just love her execution and timing of her lines in this movie. She’s wonderful.
Brian McNamara plays Bob Cratchett and really brings some heavy duty gravity to the movie. And his performance is the glue that helps to keep this down to earth.
There are a few hilarious cameos from Nile Rodgers as a greedy Record Label CEO and Brian McKnight as a sleazy song writer…
Best:
I loved the visit to the 1988 concert with the girl group Desire performing Heartquake and Sleigh Rides.
I also, I love the part when she is ordering room service from her hotel room. It’s hilarious.
And I enjoyed Ebony’s transformation into the new and improved Ebony after her time with the ghost of Christmas future. You really feel the magnitude of Ebony’s ways coming full circle.
It was really done comedically well, right down to the tombstone with a quote from one of Bette Midler's songs.
The ending:
I just love the ending. It’s the traditional Dicken’s ending, but this one ends with that charity benefit and a few more really sweet surprises, I didn’t expect.
The end credits are pretty cool too with a little bonus footage of that old music videos.
Enjoyment:
I love this corny movie. It’s funny to me and i enjoyed the twist on the old classic, done with music and adorable characters.
There is just something about the story of A Christmas Carol that I just love. I enjoy the idea of a mean character transforming into a nice person and I haven’t seen an adaptation of it that I didn’t like.
For me though, I love this film because it’s a cool modern take that at is fluffy and light. I just chuckle so much when I see this movie. And I love that it's made for the whole family.
My Rating:
8.5
That sums up my review. I hope you liked it. This is Retro Nerd Girl signing off! Take care movie lovers! I'm off to the next review!
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