Review: Ferrell, Reynolds are a gift in ‘Spirited’
‘You said, ‘Past, present, future.’ Like a Christmas Carol? The Dickens story? The Bill Murray Movie with Bobcat Goldthwait?” Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds) interrupts, while being haunted at his Christmas party by the harbinger spirit of Jacob Marley (Patrick Page) in Sean Anders’s “Spirited.”
Fourth wall breaks like that are common territory for a movie star like Reynolds (“Deadpool,” “Free Guy”) who, in this film, plays Briggs — a media consultant who sells the public whatever image his client wants, unbothered by conscience. Over the course of two hours and a little change, “Spirited” — a new musical comedy — spices up Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella “A Christmas Carol,” with “Saturday Night Live’s” TV-sketch comedy flavor. What’s more, it unfolds like a love letter to comedian Will Ferrell’s 20-plus-year career.
Enter the overarching plot with the Ghost of Christmas Present — aka Present — (Ferrell). As you may be aware, each Christmas Eve, the Ghost of Christmas Present selects one curmudgeon of a soul to be reformed by a visit from three Yuletime spirits.
This year, however, chestnuts don’t roast on an open flame as they should. Present, acting in his official capacity for 40-plus years, find himself yearning to retire. As it turns out, he works in a police precinct-like office and calls the bad seeds “Perps.” (Shades of Ferrell’s 2010 detective comedy “The Other Guys,” anyone?)
The longest-tenured spirit aside from Marley, Present has a special reward awaiting him, similar to the helpful angel Clarence from the film “It’s A Wonderful Life” (1946), but he’s hesitant and chooses to stay at work.
During a Boardroom meeting,
Marley suggests the yearly target via a case file for Present and his crew, which consists of: Past (Sunita Mani) — who is apparently very lonely — and the dutiful Yet-to Come (Loren Woods, voiced by Tracy Morgan) who has a few spicy, creative ideas for his role in the tale.
Present, instead drawn to Briggs because he is “Like the perfect combination of Mussolini and Seacrest,” calls an audible, preferring to target this other “unredeemable” soul. It doesn’t take long to notice that the ultimate grinch may have been chosen.
In one early CGI-assisted scene, the ever-slick Briggs — thrown and plastered to a ceiling by Marley’s rusty chains — rudely interrupts the ghost’s shtick, forcing him to give up. Briggs distracts his next visitor, Past, and when Present finally steps in to restore order, Briggs manipulates him into re-examining his own past, present and possible rose-tinted future.
If Briggs’ deflecting wasn’t bad enough, his mentality starts to affect the lives of people around him. For one, it’s revealed that years prior, he had a rift with his late sister Carrie (Andrea Anders).
His assistant Kimberly (Octavia Spencer) lives inharmoniously, not liking the things her boss forces her to do. Finally, when the young life of Briggs’ niece Wren (Marlow Barkley) is affected, an ice-skating assisted, snow-stopping reckoning approaches to cap off Briggs’ long, memorable night.
Nods to Ferrell’s career thus far are sprinkled throughout the film, popping up when you’re least expecting. One such instance is an enraged Present coming face-to-face with someone dressed as Ferrell’s main character Buddy from the movie “Elf ” (2003). A more subtle wink includes ice-skating flair almost comparable to the actor’s legendary ice-skating character Chazz Michael Michaels “Blades of Glory” (2007).
Though the plot contains some adult themes, there is still good balance of whimsy. Also, the chemistry between Ferrell and Reynolds is a hit — their film pairing was long overdue.
A word of warning: The production is packed with 12 performances capably sung by cast members. If you’re not a huge fan of musical numbers, the plot can feel bogged down at certain points. Otherwise, consider adding the film to your coveted Christmas rotation.
“Spirited,” rated PG13, was released in select theaters, on Nov. 11, ahead of a streaming release, on Nov. 18, by Apple TV+.