A Christmas Carol (2019)

:

Season 1
  • Network: FX
  • Series Premiere Date: Dec 19, 2019
Metascore
49

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 12
  3. Negative: 3 out of 12

Critic Reviews

  1. The Independent
    Reviewed by: Ed Cumming
    Jan 3, 2020
    60
    It ought to be too hammy to hang together, and it would probably have worked as a one-off film rather than the full three-hour mini-series, but I found myself watching, mainly due to the central performances.
  2. CNN
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    Dec 19, 2019
    50
    If the goal was to produce a version that would still leave you feeling kind of lousy, like a bleak lump of coal in your stocking, as opposed to infused with Christmas cheer, well, mission sort-of accomplished, but to what end?
  3. Uncle Barky
    Reviewed by: Ed Bark
    Dec 18, 2019
    50
    This is one hell of a hellish slog toward a redemption that isn’t really earned, given what Ebenezer once did to Bob Cratchit’s desperate wife, a woman of color played by Vinette Robinson.
  5. RogerEbert.com
    Reviewed by: Nick Allen
    Dec 18, 2019
    50
    Yes, you’ve seen this story before, but you’ve undoubtedly had more fun watching someone else’s take on it.
  6. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Allison Shoemaker
    Dec 20, 2019
    42
    That’s all this is: piss, vinegar, and sputtering, with some good acting around to make it all just barely tolerable.
  7. Collider
    Reviewed by: Dave Trumbore
    Dec 19, 2019
    40
    It plumbs the depths of darkness to the point that even the usually buoyant Cratchit Family is dragged down with Scrooge. But without a redemptive rise to counterbalance all that darkness, A Christmas Carol misses out on the meaning of the story and the greater meaning of the Christmas season.
  8. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Daniel Fienberg
    Dec 18, 2019
    40
    The result is that FX has made a Christmas Carol that very much isn't for children — seriously, the wee ones will be either bored or scandalized — and probably isn't really for adults either. At its very best, it's an attempted in-depth character study of Scrooge, one that meshes very poorly with the inspiring structure of the story, while at its worst it's an ill-paced, ill-focused version of A Christmas Carol.

Awards & Rankings

66
#66 Most Discussed TV Season of 2019

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 29 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 29
  3. Negative: 9 out of 29
  1. Qishere
    Dec 22, 2019
    0
    Abomination! A so called “remake” of a beloved Dickens’ tale of redemption and love that has been recast as a dark and filthy three odd hoursAbomination! A so called “remake” of a beloved Dickens’ tale of redemption and love that has been recast as a dark and filthy three odd hours of psycho-sexual indulgence with very little entertainment.

    From the first image of a boy urinating on a gravestone to reveal, “Jacob Marley” to the later humiliation of Bob Cratchit’s wife submitting to Scrooge’s quid pro quo offer that she prostitute herself for much needed money for her son’s life and death surgery, this movie is an unfortunate array of artisitic choices that fails with every scene! As is exclaimed so many times in this movie’s dialogue, I can only shout out, “Fu@k”

    Why the BBC and FX allowed their resources to be squandered in this worthless project, I cannot answer, but I can empathize with the humiliation the great cast of actors in this abomination must feel! In the end, by resorting to cheap, lurid and dark tricks of the writer we have been cheated of a glorious Christmas story with an insult to our adoration of Dickens’ theme. It is not Marley who is turning over in his grave, but Charles Dickens!    … Full Review »
  2. Boozehound
    Dec 28, 2019
    0
    Terrible take on a cherished Christmas classic! A perverted assault on my childhood memories of what Christmas is really about!
  3. BigLill64
    Dec 21, 2019
    9
    This was a very dark, yet interesting take on a Christmas Carol. Enjoyed immensely.
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