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With: Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds, Octavia Spencer, Sunita Mani, Patrick Page, Andrea Anders, Marlow Barkley, Joe Tippett, Jen Tullock, Tracy Morgan
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Written by: Sean Anders, John Morris
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Directed by: Sean Anders
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 for language, some suggestive material and thematic elements
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Running Time: 127
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Date: 11/11/2022
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Good Afternoon!
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol has been made into so many movies and shows that it's difficult to keep track, but the Apple TV+ original Spirited is something new: a sequel, more or less. We learn that Jacob Marley (Patrick Page) continues to haunt shady characters every Christmas in the hopes of reforming them. He has a huge crew of helpers, including the current Ghost of Christmas Present (Will Ferrell), who has been doing the job for two centuries and has the option to go back to being a human if he so chooses.
This year, Present insists that they target Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds), a ruthless, fast-talking media consultant who has been labeled "unredeemable." Clint is no pushover, though, and when Present falls in love with a human woman, Kimberly (Octavia Spencer), Clint tries to draw attention away from himself and talk Present into pursuing her... and being human. The movie is presented as a full-on Broadway-type musical, with catchy numbers and enthralling dancing. Director Sean Anders lets the movie go big, but still keeps things funny, snappy, and wise.
Sunita Mani is terrific as the Ghost of Christmas Past and Tracy Morgan provides the voice of the Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come, who doesn't get to talk when he's working. ("He mostly just points at stuff.")
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