4/10
Style over substance
16 June 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This is a 43 minute Christmas special from over 25 years ago. Well.. what can I say: The whole thing is very British from start to finish, but only rarely actually funny. But this perception may also be because I was never a great fan of Rowan Atkinson's humor. However, I love Stephen Fry and don't mind Hugh Laurie and Jim Broadbent. It's a pretty different version of Charles Dickens' famous "Christmas Carol". The film's director is not particularly known, but the writer is. It's the man behind the very successful "Love Actually".

The worst thing about this one is probably the really annoying audience laughter. They are really losing it about unfunny sequences like the "subtle plans" part or also think it's funny to talk about peeling one's tangerines. They really burst out with laughter on that one. Or when Atkinson's character has a fist as a present for the other guy near the end and just keeps hitting him repeatedly. Absolutely not funny at all. Fairly embarrassing try-hard humor, in fact. There are lots of spectacular costumes in here, but the script really leaves me wanting for more. A lot more. The best thing for me was maybe the catchy Blackadder melody in Christmas fashion. Everything else is very forgettable here. Not recommended.
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