Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds doing Dickens’ A Christmas Carol? You know this ain’t gonna be a straight adaptation and it most certainly isn’t. There are so many Christmas Carol adaptations that this film turns it into a cottage industry. With tap!

Will Ferrell plays a ghost who works for an organization that conducts Christmas Carol hauntings to carefully chosen scrooges. It’s a whole pre-planned and scheduled production with Ryan Reynolds’ terrible character as the next star. But Ryan Reynolds is a Ryan Reynolds character who can’t take this at face value and gives back as much as they give. Often to song ‘n dance numbers.

Yep… it’s a musical comedy takes on A Christmas Carol that acknowledges exactly what it is. And I found it charming, mildly amusing, and most of the songs enjoyable… even if I was occasionally rolling my eyes (along with the characters) at yet another song ‘n dance number.

Because, yeah, the songs are generally good and Reynolds and Farrell are surprisingly good (as is Octavia Spencer) but the movie runs a solid 2 hours and maybe that’s one or two too many pauses in the story for songs. It’s perhaps unfair to say since I don’t think there was a bum tune in the bunch… but also maybe this story doesn’t rate so much of my time.

But still, I enjoyed myself and found the twist on Dickens to be pretty clever. The songs were generally quite fun if perhaps a bit numerous. Reynolds and Farrell (and Spencer) acquit themselves quite well given they aren’t song ‘n dance people normally. I had fun.

Score: 84