Spirited (2022)

What a pleasant surprise. I hesitated in this one as I usually can't stand Will Ferrell (except in a very few things). I'm glad I didn't hold back though as this turned out to be an excellent Christmas film.

The story is about the Christmas Carol ghosts as they try to redeem a seemingly unredeemable jerk. There are twists and turns along the way, however, which make this a very unique take. It's also a musical.

Speaking of musical, uhh, Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds may not have been the best choice for the lead singers but it's ok because Octavia Spencer makes up for them. That and the songs are more about the message than the singing. I believe both have gone on record saying that they aren't singers or dancers so I give them slack.

The chemistry between Ferrell and Reynolds was solid. They had many great scenes together. I would have liked to have seen more of Spencer but that's only a small gripe.

By keeping Ferrell in a more tame mode, the film had more impact. There were a couple of small blips where he was let free but not enough to impact the flow.

The music was pretty decent. Not fantastic but good enough to get stuck in your head. (Personally I prefer Anna and the Apocalypse for music that becomes an earworm for a week).

Overall, the big thing going for this is its uniqueness. You think you know where things are going and it flips the script. There was one thing I figured out early on so it wasn't a big surprise but other than that it was different than some Christmas films and had a great message.

Yes, I'll definitely recommend this one and it will likely be on my annual Christmas rewatch list.

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