PLOT: The tale of Ebenezer Scrooge (Johnny Depp), a miser who is visited on Christmas Eve by three ghosts who give him one last shot at redemption.
REVIEW: Like many, I questioned the wisdom of Ti West tackling yet another adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Has there ever been a story as adapted as this one? We’ve had so many variations on Scrooge, I failed to see the point in making another version. But here’s the thing—Scrooge is a role actors of a certain age can’t help but be drawn to. It’s like playing Shakespeare in that it’s the ultimate test of an actor’s chops. It tends to be a showcase role for whoever chooses it, and in a lot of ways, it’s the ideal vehicle for Johnny Depp’s return to mainstream cinema. It serves as a good reminder of what he’s capable of at his best.
Depp hasn’t made a studio film in eight years, with this his first studio role since Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. It remains to be seen if audiences will once again flock to his films, but he couldn’t have asked for a better comeback vehicle than Ti West’s take on Dickens, with it admirably dark and horror-tinged. Taking a page from the classic Alastair Sim version, this is a far darker film—both visually and in terms of tone—than the trailers or posters have been marketing it as. While fine for families, it zeroes in on a more grown-up audience, depicting a grimy, disturbing vision of Victorian London and a more grounded take on Ebenezer Scrooge than we’re used to.
What was striking about Ebenezer was how relevant the story still seems to a modern audience, especially given the extreme wealth disparity we see in our modern society. Watching West’s take, I found myself surprisingly moved by its now-familiar message—that at the end of the day, regardless of one’s wealth, everyone winds up equal in death, and that one needs to make the most of the time on Earth they have.
Depp is terrific as Scrooge. Sporting a makeup job that does the trick but isn’t over-the-top, he’s convincing as both the miserly, cruel Scrooge and his newly compassionate, kind self in the aftermath of his Christmas encounters. But more than any Scrooge actor besides Sim and perhaps Michael Caine (in The Muppet Christmas Carol), he is able to subtly evoke the character’s gradual shift in perspective, which happens slowly over the course of the film. Even when it starts, he’s not as cartoonishly evil as previous versions of the character. He’s just shrivelled and pickled by his own greed.
Ebenezer is a little different from previous versions in that two aspects of Scrooge’s past are given more emphasis—the death of his beloved sister, Fan, and his failed relationship with the love of his life, Belle (played by a luminous Ellie Bamber). Usually, adaptations tackle one or the other—this one does both and makes it clear that his own failings in both relationships made him the shell of a man he is when we first meet him. While Fan’s death isn’t his fault, his total disregard for her kindly son, Fred (Sam Claflin), is, while his relationship with Belle remains the greatest regret of his life. There’s a moment where Depp, as the old Ebenezer, tries to get through to his younger self (played by Carrie’s Arthur Conti) that is probably the best single piece of acting Depp’s done in years.
While Depp is the centrepiece, the entire cast is good, with Rupert Grint adding an aura of pathos to Bob Cratchit, who’s an angrier character than in previous iterations, while Daisy Ridley is effective as Fred’s wife, who’s more cynical about Ebenezer’s true nature. Ian McKellen is appropriately haunting as Jacob Marley, with his role somewhat expanded over previous versions, while Andrea Riseborough and Tramell Tillman are scarier versions of the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present than we’ve seen in a while.
But through it all, the film provides Depp with one of his best vehicles in a long time. Before his decline, I’d long complained about his over-reliance on gimmicks in his mainstream roles. To me, Ebenezer is his best performance since Michael Mann’s Public Enemies. He seems hungry to reestablish himself, and he gives the part his all. Pair the ferocity of this performance with West’s impeccable style, which thematically felt similar to his one-off episode of Widow’s Bay, and you have a really strong adaptation of Dickens’ classic, and a part that could well lead to a permanent return to the mainstream for Depp.
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