Jeri Jacquin
Coming to theatres this Friday to kick off the upcoming holiday season is a Dickens classic from director Ti West and Paramount Pictures with EBENEZER.
Ebenezer Scrooge (Johnny Depp) and his partner Jacob Marley (Ian McKellan) are hard at work making their coin and being skinflints to everyone else. That is until Marley takes it upon himself to become deceased, making cups of tea. Forward a little, and Ebenezer is still a skinflint, not wanting to help anyone but himself. Sitting in a corner, working diligently, is Bob Cratchit (Rupert Grint), who keeps his quill scribbling to earn a living for his family. Even a visit from his nephew, Fred (Sam Claflin), doesn’t bring Ebenezer any joy during the Christmas season.
Of course, that’s all about to change when he is visited by Marley, who lets him know to expect three ghost visits. The first is the Ghost of Christmas Present (Andrea Riseborough), who shows him the past he seems to have forgotten, including the warm feelings given to him by his sister, Fan (Imogen Turner), and by the woman he once loved, Belle (Ellie Bamber). Ebenezer has moments of fond memories, but he quickly returns to his grouchy self, making clear he has had enough of visiting the past.
The Ghost of Christmas Present (Tramell Tillman) makes his appearance and has no time for Ebenezer’s side comments. Instead, he takes him to the Cratchit family home, where he sees Tim (Freddie Lee-Grey), and something moves him. Seeing that they don’t have much, it is the family's love for one another that stands out. Then he is taken to Fred’s home where his, with his wife Clara (Daisy Ridley), a dinner is being had. While the other guests poke fun at his uncle, it is Fred who realizes the pain his uncle feels is still over the loss of his loving sister, Fan.
Finally, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Robert Strange) shows Ebenezer that almost no one will miss him once he’s gone, but instead will take advantage of his death. He also sees the outcome for the young Tim and the entire Cratchit family. Slowly, the crack in his heart that began hours earlier finally splits wide open. In the darkness of his life, a light shines through, and Ebenezer finally realizes that it is never too late to change, never.
Depp as Ebenezer proves once again why he is the master of disguises and outrageous characters. He has the unique ability to make us all forget that it is Depp behind the mask. Bringing us totally into his world, if it weren’t for the recognizable eyes, we are ghosts ourselves, going along for the story ride from start to finish. His portrayal is dark, sad, and conflicted, with anger issues brought about by his own misunderstandings of life. Depp doesn’t hold back, making us immediately dislike Ebenezer, and it is not until the lightbulb goes on in his eyes that we see when the change of heart occurs. The deep and haggard look almost immediately becomes brightened with possibilities, and that is definitely something Depp is good at giving us all. I just loved it.
Grint as Cratchit gives the right amount of humility and love for his family. Of course, keeping his head down around Ebenezer means tolerating a heaping ton of his abuse. Most of us wouldn’t deal with it, but Cratchit sees the bigger picture and is a walking man of hope for the future of his family. McKellan as Marley is perfection; then again, I think anything he does is perfection. He makes a killer ghost! Claflin as Fred is the only member of Ebenezer’s family left, and he refuses to give up on his uncle. Always reaching out and always making sure he knows the old grump is welcome to his home. Claflin shows his heart of gold and doesn’t let anyone tear his uncle down. I loved that about his portrayal. Even with his moment of memory sadness, he still gives Ebenezer the time of day.
Riseborough as the Ghost of Christmas Past is so stunningly beautiful in a dark way. Her voice was eerily soothing, and the costuming done for her is nothing short of divine. Her ghost is what I would expect from a ghost of Christmas past. Tillman as Ghost of Christmas Present was so well done. I just love him in this role. His end was more than I expected, so much so that I had to run home and get my book to see if I had been missing something all these years. Strange as Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come doesn’t need to say a word, right? You show up looking like that, and wherever he wants you to go – you go! Dark without sinister intent, so smartly done.
Shout out to Bramber as Belle, Scott as Clara, and Turner as Fan. All of these female roles are those of women who loved the Ebenezer he once was. Finally, shout out to Galvin as the later Belle; I couldn’t have been happier that we see her.
Other cast include Nicholas Day as the minister, Michael Culkin as Mr. Drood, Arthur Conti as young man Ebenezer, Henry Lloyd-Hughes as Topper, Charlie Murphy as Emily Cratchit, Alfie Buck as boy Ebenezer, Richard McCabe as Mr. Leech, Clare Higgins as Mrs. Dibler, and Sara Galvin as later Belle.
EBENEZER is based on the 1843 novella A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens. He wrote it being influenced by his own Christmas’ as a boy. Dickens was also fond of Washington Irving and Douglas Jerrold and their Christmas tales. Dickens was said to be inspired by a visit to a school for street children. A Christmas Carol actually has five chapters that Dickens called “staves.” West uses that in the film!
Of course, what is Christmas without anything A Christmas Carol-related? What I love about this particular version is that it is kept dark. Not in a frightening way, just the darkness of one man’s life and purely because of choices he made for himself. Considering the era of London the story was written in and the cold of winter, director West didn’t skimp on keeping it spot on. Depp did his part in portraying the character, but West made everything else a character in itself.
I loved every part of this film. Look, this is not reinventing the Christmas wreath folks, but that doesn’t matter. It is everything we’d expect of a Dickens story put to screen with the bonus of so much depth (pun intended). The spirits are fantastic, with the special effects and eeriness I would personally expect if someone told me I was going to be visited by ghosts.
The humor is mixed in so well that it almost takes a fraction of a second to realize it mixed in the dark and strange of it all. Depp takes on Alistair Sim in the 1951 version of the film of the curmudgeonly miser, and they are now both my favorites. What we get from EBENEZER is a fantastic ghost story that doesn’t hesitate to remind us all that yes, we all have pasts, sometimes forget to live in the present, and that there is still time to change for a more joyful future.
In the end – before he was Scrooge, he was Ebenezer!
