Spirited

Spirited

Each Christmas Eve, the Ghost of Christmas Present selects one dark soul to be reformed by a visit from three spirits. But this season, he picked the wrong Scrooge. Clint Briggs turns the tables on his ghostly host until Present finds himself reexamining his own past, present and future.

  • Released: 2022-11-11
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell, Octavia Spencer, Sunita Mani, Aimee Carrero, Joe Tippett, Marlow Barkley, Maximilian Lee Piazza, Jen Tullock, Anne Reardon, Nico Tirozzi, Billy Concha, Peter Brownlee, Woody Fu, Brian Bradbury, Maddox Dalton, Daelan Dalton, Arasha Lalani
  • Director: Sean Anders
 Comments
  • hoernkeem - 25 January 2024
    Spirited (2022, Sean Anders) Interesting 'A Christmas Carol' adaptation, but ultimately not as funny as it should have been
    Eric's Grade: C 'Spirited' is Christmas themed musical comedy directed and co-written by Sean Anders starring Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds. It is an updated adaptation of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' with Will Ferrell in the Ghost of Christmas Present role and Ryan Reynolds in the Scrooge roll. All Anders does is write and direct comedies such as 'Daddy's Home', 'Horrible Bosses 2' and 'Sex Drive' so something like 'Spirited' is right up his alley although this is his first crack at a musical. 'Spirited' did have a brief theatrical release prior to dropping on the Apple TV+ streaming service in November of 2022.

    Ferrell stars as the Ghost of Christmas Past. Those three iconic spirits as well as Jacob Marley head up an afterlife organization that attempts to redeem one soul a year Ebenezer Scrooge style. The "perp" as they call them gets a year of prep time and then when Christmas hits they go through the elaborate 'Christmas Carol' style presentation which essentially scares the perp and gives them the feels enough to become the good person they were always meant to be. Reynolds stars as Clint Briggs who is a morally reprehensible social media consultant who is not above any dirty trick to secure whatever is in the best interest of his clients. He will even throw a kid under the social media bus to secure his niece a victory she desires. Present (Ferrell) immediately identifies him as a challenging perp who has been labeled by his organization as irredeemable. Of course as the organization attempts to give him the standard presentation he balks in humorous style which provides all sorts of consternation for Present who already has a lot of personal questions about himself going into this job. As the two work through this process they both find out more about one another and both may break the mold of being irredeemable.

    No clue what this movie was about walking into it so I was pleasantly surprised to see it take shape as comedic take on 'A Christmas Carol'. Bill Murray's 'Scrooged' is one of my favorite comedies of all time. As far as comedic actors go for the most part I enjoy Ferrell, but he can be hit or miss, but I love me some Ryan Reynolds. Ferrell's Present ghost is a bit more relaxed version of his typical comedy, and Reynolds is doing the dickish, snarky, intelligent comedy that he does best. Despite that I did not find this movie very funny. The writing just doesn't dig the comedy out of the source material quite right. I do like the premise, and it is interesting twist on the Dickens' tale, but the idea is just not captured to its full potential in the script. For being a holiday musical comedy 'Spirited' is just not that funny, with music that isn't that captivating, and although set during Christmas this doesn't give the viewer any of those holiday sensations. Despite looking slick with some good actors this movie stumbles with its presentation so it just winds up okay and rather basic.
  • e_daneva - 1 January 2024
    'Good Afternoon!!'
    Spirited is an amazing movie. Even though Elf is better, this is still a great movie with Will Ferell and Ryan Reynolds. The movie had great songs but the songs felt like they came out of nowhere. Also there was too many songs. This movie had about 15 songs. Even though this is a musical that is way too much. My favorite song though, was the one Ryan Reynolds was singing about Christmas trees. Also this movie is hilarious. It's super funny and it has two great comedic actors, Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferell. Still, after all that, this movie gets a 6.6? Good afternoon. Yes, good afternoon, one of my favorite lines in the movie. If you watch the full movie, and not just 5 minutes, you will know why. I would recommend this movie to you if you like Elf or if you like musicals, and or comedy, and and or holiday movies. In my mind, giving a modern twist to the classic Christmas story was a great idea. I also love the ending of the movie. It's just not what you would expect and it is very creative. In all, I give this a 8.4 out of 10.
  • amieglass - 20 December 2023
    My new favorite Christmas movie!!
    Sooo good! I'm not at all a musicals person but this one got me singing for days. The humor was awesome and the messages were really sweet and lovely. Just the antidote we need to all the negativity right now. It's like the Ted Lasso of Christmas movies. Add to that all the fabulous dance scenes! So entertaining! After I watched it I've told all my friends and they all loved it too! I also appreciated the lack of vulgar humor in a comedy for once! Not that I'm opposed to crass humor but it's just refreshing when you're looking for an uplift and a positive perspective about life and people. The movie reminds us to look for the best in others and to get in touch with the best in ourselves. Sounds cheesy, but we all really need it. And I'm not at all a cheesy person. I actually can't stand cheesy (i.e. Hallmark and Disney movies), so hopefully you'll give it a try and enjoy it!
  • pdavide587 - 2 January 2023
    Painful to watch and listen to
    I like musicals and comedies but this is painful

    The musicals aren't even remotely catchy, there are way too many of them plus they are literally painful to listen to, most of them are like nails on a chalkboard. The dialogue is scattered and disorganized, And a decent amount is inappropriate for children, and I'm not quite sure who the demographic is.

    Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell are clickbait De Niro and DiCaprio couldn't save this film

    I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone except perhaps to the interrogators at Guantanamo bay to break suspects Just play this film on repeat 2 to 3 viewings in and they'd tell you anything you want to know.
  • brennanm-46512 - 30 December 2022
    Spirited: A good old fashion musical
    An easy to watch film that had an important message that both young and old can learn from. As a Will fan, I enjoyed his role and his ability to perform in a musical creating a compelling character that mixed comedy and music to fully engage the audience. Surprisingly good performance by Ryan Reynolds creating a modern 'Scrooge' character and understanding your every day choice can shape your future. Creating a feel good movie with an underlying message of the importance of our actions. I would recommend Spirited as a film to watch each Christmas Eve to reconnect the family to some good old fashion values.
  • msbreviews - 27 December 2022
    Spirited efficiently applies a Christmas formula.
    If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free thoughts, please follow my blog :)

    "Spirited efficiently applies a Christmas formula. Harnessing the undeniable, palpable chemistry between Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell, along with original holiday tunes filled with the typical humor from the actors, Sean Anders delivers a musical entertaining enough to entertain the average spectator.

    Not all the songs succeed, nor their timing in the story is always the right one, and the generic narrative doesn't exactly help with the surprise factor. Still, I'm happy enough with the essential message that people can, in fact, change for the better."

    Rating: B-
  • jacktopple - 25 December 2022
    Spirited
    This a masterful, musical, Christmas comedy featuring some really great actors. You will not be watching your watches and clock to see what time it is or how long you have left.

    If you love musicals, Christmas, and great acting, this is your movie. I really appreciated the plot and the little nuances/Easter eggs that were placed throughout the movie as well. The music was fantastic, bright, and new! The main actors really did well, given that singing is not necessarily their forte!

    Overall, the movie was highly entertaining and a spectacle. I loved the inclusion of all the Broadway elements in the numbers. The Reprise was excellent and the credit number were worth watching!

    I loved this movie!
  • DanLawson146 - 24 December 2022
    Fun, uplifting, but very muddled
    POSITIVES:

    1) The three leads are all really good here. Reynolds gives the same performance he always gives, but it's brilliant, and Ferrell and Spencer bring a lot of necessary warmth to the film, as well as being funny themselves. I was also really engaged by their romance 2) The chemistry between Ferrell and Reynolds is insanely good. I was sceptical and honestly didn't think they'd work well together as they're both so used to being the lead, but they actually work amazingly as a duo and I really bought into their friendship by the end 3) I really enjoyed the message of the film, which to me is that you don't need to be a perfect human being, as long as you try and do a little bit of good everyday and be a little bit of a better person everyday. I thought the two leads swapping roles at the end was quite clever too.

    NEGATIVES:

    1) I didn't see the need for this film to be a musical. None of the songs stand out, none of the leads are great singers, and it just felt very unnecessary 2) The film feels really muddled and like it doesn't know what it wants to be. On the one hand, it's trying to be a family friendly Christmas film, but on the other hand it's got lots of bad language and rude jokes. It really felt like it needed to pick one and stick to it, rather than weirdly switching between the two 3) The 'twist' that Ferrell is playing Scrooge felt really unnecessary and silly. Why was he English when he was alive but American now he's dead? In fact, the whole sequence in Victorian England was by far the worst of the film and should've been cut out entirely.
  • sarahlietz - 23 December 2022
    Great Holiday Movie
    This is a fantastic movie. I love A Christmas Carol - I teach it to my students every year - and this movie is a fun, unique modern adaptation. I was a bit disappointed by the bad language, as I was thinking that this would have been a great version to show my students, but the movie is very positive and has a great message. Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds were lovely together. I acknowledge some reviewers' complaints that there are too many songs, but I did enjoy them all - especially the dancing. Most importantly, the movie left me feeling uplifted at the end, which is what holiday movies are for, right!?
  • jasonsbainbridge - 23 December 2022
    Can't "Wrap" My Head Around The Mediocre Rating
    I purposely refrained from checking the rating on this movie before I watched it because that can reallly cause an automatic bias for but I think the makers of this movie really nailed this one and I was SHOCKED to see such a low rating because to me this is an instant Christmas classic!

    I had no idea it was a musical until the first song started. Usually I'm not a fan of musicals but the music was incredible, with lots of winks to the camera and fun little borderline fourth wall breaks, very funny and a real return to form for Will Ferrell as far as his comedy goes.

    Ryan Reynolds's plays a very complex and interesting character and his arc isn't what you expect from a Christmas "change your ways" type movie.

    There was a twist at the end that I didn't see coming either.

    At the end of the day it's an original twist on a Christmas classic and you really need to give it a chance, it's very very good.