Disney's A Christmas Story - DVD

Film: Successful director Robert Zemeckis has apparently finally said goodbye to traditional filmmaking. Since "The Polar Express" Zemeckis has only filmed using digital performance capture, which transfers his actors' movements and facial expressions to animated figures. And although his last such project, "Beowulf", wasn't really crowned with success, Zemeckis isn't giving up and presents his most ambitious project to date with his version of Charles Dickens' "Christmas Story".

In terms of content, Zemeckis sticks closely to the original: miser Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) shows his particularly ill-tempered side, especially during the Christmas season. After he has once again buttered down his loyal accountant Bob Cratchit (Gary Oldman), turned down his nephew's (Colin Firth) invitation to Christmas dinner, driven fundraising benefactors out of his office and silenced merry Christmas carolers, he seems to be denied a place in heaven for good. But it's not too late: for Ebenezer receives a visit from the ghost of his former business partner Marley, who is paying bitterly for his greed and cold-heartedness in the afterlife. To save his old friend from a similar fate, Marley sends three spirits to Scrooge to open the old curmudgeon's heart before he too must burn in hell: and so Scrooge is visited that night by the Ghost of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come. What these spirits show him does not leave the old man unmoved. But whether it is enough to change him seems doubtful.

At once: "A Christmas Story" is NOT a children's movie. The 12+ release is entirely justified. Even Disney seems to think so, as the distributor itself has advised on the movie posters not to let children under ten watch the film. This is because Robert Zemeckis` version of the classic novella is dark and has some very frightening moments that are still very effective even without the intensifying 3D effects.

Zemeckis has found the perfect leading man in Jim Carrey, who portrays not only Scrooge in various stages of his life but also the three ghosts. His facial acrobatics, which have made him so successful in his comedies in particular, greatly benefit the performance capture process. Carrey has found the perfect facial expressions and body language for each of the characters he portrays. However, as positively as Carrey does here, the film still leaves you feeling rather ambivalent in the end.

What stood out very negatively in "The Polar Express" and still not really positively in "Beowulf" were the characters' faces, which seemed almost eerily lifeless and mask-like. While the technique here has improved significantly, most of the effort was clearly put into Scrooge's face. The rest of the characters still look lifeless and all kind of the same. The eyes in particular are kind of blank and at times it seems like every character in the film is squinting a bit. As good as the technology is and as impressive as some of the effects look, the much more unrealistic characters from films like "Oben" just have a lot more soul and character than the people animated so lifelike in all three of Zemeckis' performance capture films.

Another problem is the target audience definition. As mentioned earlier, "A Christmas Story" is not a film for children. For teenagers, the opening in particular is far too plodding and unspectacular. And adult viewers will notice the interspersed "Action"-scenes, in which Scrooge falls down or slides along somewhere, rather negatively, because these do not really fit the tone of the film and probably only serve to show off the great 3-D effects - which may work in the cinema and perhaps on the 3D BluRay, but here only tires. If there weren't already many successful versions of this story, such as the modern interpretation in "The Spirits I Called" with Bill Murray, or the Muppet version with Michael Caine as Scrooge, these criticisms might not weigh quite so heavily. Because the story itself just works.

So is "A Christmas Story" a bad movie? Certainly not, there are too many successful and sometimes even impressive moments for that. But what gets in the way of the film is the director`s apparent love for a technique that, in its perfection, seems to have lost sight of the essentials of a film like this: the warmth that is supposed to lull the viewer and get them in the mood for the Christmas season. Thus, as an interpretation of the Charles Dickens story, Zemeckis` film unfortunately disappoints despite its closeness to the original. As a purely visual experience, however, the spectacle certainly provides the one or other aha effect. Whether that is enough to appeal to a wide audience, however, remains questionable.

Picture + Sound: Technically, the DVD is on a high level. The picture is clean, has a high overall sharpness and provides thanks to good contrasts even in dark moments for clearly discernible details. The sound is dynamic and brings in some scenes powerful life into the home theater system. It actually only gets better on Blu-Ray. Very good!

Extras: The extras of the DVD can be summarized under one term: Annoying! Hosted by supporting actress Jacquie Barnbrook, the nearly 15-minute making-of quickly tugs at the nerves of all viewers over 12 due to the hyperactive and unfunny Barnbrook, and the information offered about the filming is too superficial to be of any consolation. The 2 minute or so set visit with 14 year old Sammi Hanratty is only better in that you have to endure the precocious child for a much shorter time than Ms. Barnbrook. The three cut scenes offered in their unfinished animated state are not much worth watching, and the commercials for Disney's 3D Blu-rays, their associated players and TVs, and for Disney Blu-rays are simply unbearable (especially the latter, hosted by Zack & Cody himself). Unlike the film, the extras are clearly geared too much towards a very young target audience. For older viewers, on the other hand, you can safely avoid this part of the DVD.

Conclusion: Disney's "A Christmas Story" is technically a convincing film, but it lacks warmth and charm for long stretches. The production shuttles back and forth a bit indecisively between gritty fairy tale and children's film, and is a bit overambitious at times. The DVD is technically very well made, but the extras are disappointing. Therefore: worth seeing, but only really recommendable for fans of Zemeckis` other motion capture films and of Jim Carrey!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp