Spirited (2022) – Movie Review

“Good afternoon!”

Spirited provides a fun and refreshing twist to Charles Dickens’ 1843 classic, A Christmas Carol. There have been plenty of renditions of the classic tale, but none quite like this. Will Ferrell plays the Ghost of Christmas Present, one of the three ghosts in an advanced operation that preps all year to haunt and change one perp on Christmas Eve. Considering retirement, Ferrell decides to take on an “Unredeemable” (Ryan Reynolds) as his final haunt.

Going into this movie, it was bound to be silly. A single film featuring both Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds is ripe for silliness, but their combined comedy made for a fun and entertaining time. This could easily have gone astray, but Spirited pulls it off in a charming and feel-good manner. 

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While I am not usually one for musicals, Spirited is fun because it is a musical that makes fun of musicals. Apart from the humor, Ferrell and Reynolds were each impressive with their respective musical numbers. While the two comedic actors definitely won’t go down in history as remembered for their singing careers, the songs were all catchy and used their actual voices, giving the movie an authentic feel. Octavia Spencer also gave a notable performance and stood out as the best singer of the bunch.

The movie is not all giggles, as it covers some serious topics as well. Ryan Reynolds’ “unredeemable” character Clint Briggs runs a shady media firm that digs up dirt and fabricates fake news. Seeing this begs the question: How much of the information we receive today is meant just to generate buzz (I’m looking at you, Chris Pine spitting incident)? The movie explored the implications of “cancel culture,” and how a simple mistake from someone’s past can ruin their future in today’s world.

Overall, Spirited is a solid new addition to the already bustling library of Christmas movies, but it well deserves its spot on the shelf. I truly enjoyed Spirited and rate it 4.5/5 stars. For me, this is a new holiday classic that I plan on revisiting, and I could not recommend it enough. I love my Christmas classics as much as the next person, but if you are itching for something new this holiday season, give Spirited a shot.

Spirited is available on Apple TV+ and in select theaters.

Next: 5 Non-Christmas Christmas Movies To Watch Over the Holidays