A comedic Christmas musical starring Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds, and Octavia Spencer? I’m in! This new Apple original holiday film features the necessary ingredients for success, and it delivers for the most part. The cast and their performances are a big factor in this film’s quality. Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell are both engaging and have really great chemistry and Octavia Spencer is her usual brilliant self yet again. The script isn’t an A+ but it does provide enough good material to keep us interested. And lastly, most of the songs are satisfactory and paired with fun choreography. These three factors make Spirited a fun festive experience. This isn’t the most memorable Christmas film but it’s also not a total dud.
It’s true that both Ferrell and Reynolds are both doing things in this that we’ve seen from them in the past. Reynolds has certainly played the sarcastic smart ass in numerous prior roles and Ferrell has played the cheery optimistic persona into the ground by now. This could be a problem in certain instances. This whole thing could have felt “been there, done that” having these actors playing these kind of roles yet again.
Fortunately, it never feels old or stale because they’re just so good at it. Reynolds is able to pull off that duality of wise guy and charm that he seems to have built a career on. Ferrell commits fully to his cheery good guy role and you just can’t help but love him for it. And as mentioned previously, these two share a really fun sweet chemistry that ends up grounding Spirited. Octavia Spencer is always such a joy to see. Has she ever given a poor performance? If she has, I haven’t seen it. She is just a ray of sunshine in this and provides great support.
The story itself is fairly predictable, but they make it entertaining enough. There are a good amount of jokes that land, and a handful of them are surprisingly creative. One of my favorite jokes has to do with a random party guest and Will Ferrell’s character. Some may think it easy or corny but I found it amusing.
Another positive detail is the fact that there is an appropriate amount of both comedy and drama. It’s not a situation where we have 90% of one and 10% of the other. There are heartstring tugging moments for sure and then there’s also plenty of lighthearted fare to enjoy. All this positivity doesn’t mean Spirited is without its shortcomings though.
The biggest issue that stood out to me by the end was a plot detail that doesn’t make very much sense. Something unusual occurs in the beginning and it’s never explained. I was actually a little surprised this particular occurrence was never met with any sort of an explanation. The other more minor complaint of mine is that the songs could have been a little more memorable. It’s not that the songs are poorly performed, but they’re also not tunes you’ll come away wanting to download and replay over and over. Other than that, there really aren’t any other negatives to come away with. This is a holiday film that won’t end up being put in the column of classics but is also worth a watch if you enjoy this type of cinema. The wildly talented cast members are the biggest selling point of the whole thing. They make the material better and more engaging.
Spirited comes with a recommendation from me, albeit a somewhat mild one. If you’re looking for a new film to satisfy your holiday cheer, this will mostly do the trick.
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