An American Christmas Carol By Rancosto on Nov 16, 2007 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

This is an Americanized version of Charles Dickens's timeless Christmas story. The American Scrooge is called Benedict Slade, and he lives in the Depression era New England. He is a hard-hearted old businessman who begins his Christmas by calling in people's debts and handing out repossession notices, which triggers the ghosts' visits later that day. The ghosts show him his past, present, and future, opening his eyes to the life he lives. As you see, there are no big changes to the original story, except for it being transported from England to America, of course.

Success or failure of A Christmas Carol movie largely depends on whether you've got a good Scrooge. This version does. Henry Winkler who plays Benedict Slade is very believable. He plays both the young and the old Slade, wearing aged makeup for the latter. This is a hard thing to pull off, but Winkler does it well. One thing I did not like was that the ghosts came looking like people Slade knew, so the element of surprise and fear was gone: each time he mistook the ghost for the person they looked like, only later on realizing that it is actually a spirit.

Overall, it is an interesting rendition; perhaps nothing spectacular, but worth adding to your collection if you are A Christmas Carol fan.