I have to tell you, I really really wanted to like Disney’s A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey.  I love the novella, and if you’ve taken the time to read it (you should), you probably love it too.  And the movie is in 3-D! Come on don’t you love that 3-D is a gimmick again?  I went into the film with a completely open mind, ready to embrace it at any moment.

An animated Jim Carrey as Scrooge

It never really happened.  It’s not a terrible movie; it’s just not very good.  To live up to the standards of the story it has to embrace the spirit of it because, after all, that’s what makes it great.

My complaint with adaptations of Dickens’ novella typically center around the fact that too often the impulse of filmmakers is to make Scrooge into a funny sort of character to be laughed at- his grumpiness is almost endearing.  But see that’s the problem, Scrooge isn’t just grumpy, he’s contemptuous of society and the trappings of it.  He witnesses miserable life after miserable life lining up and begging for money.  He sees people happy when they have nothing to be happy about in this world.  Christmas to him is nothing more than an excuse to deny reality.  By making Scrooge laughable, the spark of the story is lost.  The newest version makes this mistake.

The film does contain faithful moments to the novella, and occasionally really impresses.  Anytime an adaptation contains the dark demise of the Ghost of Christmas Present with the appearance of the child manifestations of Ignorance and Want, I’m happy.  But overall, it just didn’t work for me.  And yikes that animation still makes for some creepy looking people.

For my money, the best adaptation of A Christmas Carol is the 1984 made-for-TV adaptation starring George C. Scott.  Scott may not even try to speak with an English accent, but no matter, his Scrooge is the real thing.  Here, Scrooge is the nasty, unpleasant, disgusting waste of a human being that he was meant to be in the novella.

And Dickens’ London in this version comes to life like no other adaptations have been able to accomplish.  The bleakness and moodiness of the set design matches the story with perfection.  This is the adaptation you should watch this season, not the current version out in the theater.  It is on DVD and is playing on the Hallmark Channel this season.

There are so many holiday movies out there that I would recommend, and many of them are the same ones that we’ve all seen over and over again.  My DVD pick from last week, A Christmas Tale is just the film to offer a touch of something different to the holiday season.

And we all know what the great Christmas movies are, they’ve been played over and over again on your television, and really what is the point of me telling you the same names that every list does: A Christmas Story, It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34the Street, and of course the modern classics like Love Actually, Elf, and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and I could go on and on.  So I’d like to offer you something completely different.

My favorite Christmas movie is The Homecoming.  Airing in 1971, this made-for-TV movie was the pilot for The Waltons series.  “The Waltons,” you say in bewilderment. “Is he also going to recommend the Little House on the Prairie Christmas special?”  So right, I get what you’re thinking, but here’s the truth: The Homecoming fills its time with the brand of holiday spirit that never dips into familial clichés about love and togetherness.  Instead, it offers a poignant portrait of a close family and never betrays the integrity of its story.

Taking place during the Depression in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, the Waltons are eagerly awaiting the return of their father, John Walton, on Christmas Eve from work many miles away.  While waiting for the arrival, Olivia, the mother of the clan, and the grandparents hear a report that a bus has crashed with fatalities- a bus that John very well may have been taking back home.  The bulk of the film as it moves forward is about the tense night waiting for John’s arrival.

As Olivia, Academy Award winner Patricia Neal turns in a performance that makes the film.  She has to balance a frantic desperation to know what has happened to her husband with a calm and strong face to her many children, and she does so with such restraint that when she finally breaks down in a vulnerable moment, the full complexity of her character shines forward.

Great performances abound through the film, and the supporting characters are given storylines that even though may just be slightly touched upon, create each character with nuance and believability.  In particular, Clevon Little shines as a local preacher.  All of the supporting characters in the film are imbibed with a fullness of personality that not one seems insignificant.

The film is so deceivingly simple in its purpose, but with a well-written script and excellent ensemble casting, The Homecoming delivers the spirit of the holiday in an honest and unmanipulative manner.  It is available on DVD, but typically pops up somewhere each holiday season.  If it comes your way, leave the TV on and enjoy.