Excellent, smart action film.

Better Late Then Never

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Finally something different in the Christmas genre. This made-for-TV movie has Dickens' A Christmas Carol getting all shook up to give it bunch of different situations not in the original story. Tom Arnold is excellent in the "Scrooge" role. He, of course, is visited by three ghosts meant to show him how he has every reason to stop being a scrooge. But all does not go as planned and that's what makes this refreshing. Unfortunately a low budget hinders this kinda unique story. Bright green grass with foamy looking snow covering portions of the ground? Just terrible. Throw in more money and a more talented director and you really coulda had something much better here. Still it's refreshing. Even though it was made for the ABC Family Channel, it's not exactly charming nor is it really family-friendly unless the family consists of only adults! It's still PG but does contain adult themes. Barely any Christmas music in it so not very Christmasy. But it kept my interest especially compared to so many repetitive and formulaic takes on the classic tale.6.4 / 10 stars--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

Another typical movie for the season. I like it. It is a take off on Scrooge and the three spirits of Christmas with a twist. Tom Arnold plays the grinch who hates Christmas because he found his wife cheating on him at his daughters Christmas play. He is chosen to be visited by the three ghosts of Christmas. The glitch occurs when the ghost of Christmas Past flakes out doesn't want to leave. This sends Present back to retrieve both the ghost and Tom. They end up having to chase him down, hence the title I suppose. They finally get him and return to the present but during the chase Tom and Present kind of fall in love but separate when they return. Tom has now relearned the true meaning of Christmas, pleasantly shocking his daughter. Christmas Present is given the job of Christmas Past and the old Past is demoted to toy elf. A nice movie for the season.

Jack (Tom Arnold) despises Christmas. Not only are his memories from childhood painful, his acrimonious divorce didn't help matters, either. So, even when his daughter is visiting, Jack doesn't want to go shopping for the trimmings or presents. Naturally, the Yuletide "powers that be" believe Jack needs a visit from, you guessed it, Christmas Past (Leslie Jordan), Present (Andrea Roth) and Future. But, what they don't count on is Past, very tired of his role, running away from Jack with his magic Christmas wand, in 1965! Now, lovely Present steps in to help Jack track down Past and work his way back into the present day. As they do so, they hop-skip to various Christmas pasts, including the one Jack spent with his new bride on a ski trip. What revelations appear! Therefore, will Jack get out of the past, lessons learned, and will Past return to save the day? This is really quite an entertaining take on the Dickens classic, where new versions come out every season. One of the reasons is that Arnold is extremely likable and humorous in the main role, as are Jordan, Roth and all of the others. Then, too, with the settings fluctuating from the fifties to the sixties, seventies and beyond, it is delightful to observe the fashions, hot gift ideas, et cetera. Also, the direction is lively and the script is cute. Ho, ho, ho, what fun it is to see Jack tied up with a string of Xmas lights and such! Need a new funny bone tickler for the holidays? Chase down this one.

The latest in the infinite TV movie re-workings of "A Christmas Carol," this movie - shown on the ABC Family Channel under the title "Chasing Christmas" - has some sense of fun and an occasional witty touch. But the main reason to see it is Andrea Roth's performance as "Present," a.k.a. the Ghost of Christmas Present. Without having all that much to work with in the script, she creates an attractive character who balances her sense of responsibility to her ghostly duties against a dawning appreciation of the daily pleasures of normal life. She even manages to make believable those moments when she needs to convey a romantic interest in Tom Arnold's Scrooge stand-in. At any given moment in Hollywood history, there always seem to be some good actresses who lack only a breakthrough role to reach the level of success they deserve. This movie doesn't give Roth that role, but - notwithstanding whatever weak points it has - it does let us enjoy her skill, intelligence, and charm. There's worse ways to pass two hours on a December evening.