Like many onscreen Scrooges before him, Ryan Reynolds' character in "Spirited" is told that he will face his past, present and future. But he surprises even the spirit haunting him upon raising his hand and asking: "Like 'A Christmas Carol'? The Dickens story? The Bill Murray movie with Bobcat Goldthwait?"
"Yes, yes!" he is told. "Like the Dickens book, and the Bill Murray movie, and every other adaptation nobody asked for!"
This irreverent humor is part of what makes "Spirited" — now playing in select theaters and streaming beginning Nov. 18 on Apple TV+ — a Christmas miracle in itself. With some strategic reframing, updated characters and many weeks of dance rehearsals, "Spirited" refreshes Hollywood's most overtold, and arguably outdated, morality tale as a topical musical comedy that manages to be astute about our divided culture without losing the source material's streak of sincerity.
