Chasing Christmas Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
In a world where the holidays are run by the efficient Bureau of Yuletide Affairs, a bitter and burned-out Ghost of Christmas Past decides to go AWOL while on a "mission" and leave his "target" stranded in 1965.
| Tom Arnold | Jack Cameron |
| Andrea Roth | Present |
| Leslie Jordan | Past |
| Brittney Wilson | Suzanne Cameron |
| Robert Clarke | Trevor |
| Sarah-Jane Redmond | Alison |
| Ben Ayres | Mike |
| Keith Dallas | Bob |
| Casey Dubois | Kid #2 |
| Zak Ludwig | Young Scrooge |
| Aleks Paunovic | Vincent |
| Jed Rees | Future |
| Marco Soriano | Concierge |
| Juan Carlos Velis | The Bellboy |
| Nelson Wong | Drug Store Clerk |
| Ron Oliver |
5.10 out of 10 (194 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Cute version of "A Christmas Carol"
posted on 28 Aug 2009OK, I like Tom Arnold and, except for the "Highway to Heaven" episode with Geoffrey Lewis, this is the funniest version you can imagine.Arnold hate Christmas because his wife dumped him on Christmas Eve. He becomes the "Scrooge" we all love to hate. The Ghost of Christmas Past (Leslie Jordan) visits and decides that he wants to stay in the past. To the rescue is the Ghost of Christmas present (Andrea Roth). So most of the movie takes place in Arnold's past as Present tries to get him home before midnight.Brittney Wilson was great as Arnold's daughter.Of course, you all know how it ends.
An American Modern Christmas Carol
posted on 01 Aug 2009There are several versions of "A Christmas Carol", and even if this may not be called that the story is basicly the same. Tom Arnold hates Christmas because his ex-wife cheated on him with his dentist on Christmas Eve. When he finally becomes enlightened by things he has no control over with the visits of Christmas spirits, it begins to sink into his head that he doesn't have it so bad. A reasonably decent romantic comedy for the holidays. Recommend you rent it first unless you are a huge Arnold fan.
Embarrassing train wreck, a cheap mess
posted on 10 May 2009Every once in awhile, I decide to watch a movie knowing full well that I'll hate it. Usually I'm hoping it'll be bad enough that a little booze and some similarly critical friends will turn a tedious ninety-minute torture-fest into something that's at least amusing, if not hilariously bad.We poured some wine, dimmed the lights, and settled in with Chasing Christmas, a made-for-TV movie that should have been gloriously bad but was instead just boring. Tom Arnold stars as Jack, a bitter, angry man with a bratty teenage daughter, a failed marriage, and the worst case of rhinitis since the entire cast of Scarface sniffed their way through years of cocaine addiction.It seems Jack hates Christmas because he caught his wife shagging some guy in the coat closet at his daughter's Christmas play. The wife, who is unapologetically skanky and slutty throughout the movie, left him for another man and moved to London. At one point, this subplot is showcased in a ridiculous green screen scene with her new paramour, some champagne, and Big Ben seen through the windows beyond.Like most terrible Christmas films, the movie's plot loosely and tiresomely follows the plot of A Christmas Carol. Except this time the ghosts of Christmas Past and Present have personalities. Past, played by a creepy little man with the soft Southern drawl of a registered sex offender, wants to stay in the past, and leads Jack and Present (played by some blonde Amazon who is neither funny nor sexy) on a series of repetitive, madcap dashes through the decades. Hamfisted homages to other Christmas movies abound and the sets, costumes, and extras are about what you'd expect from a TV movie; that is to say, they are shamefully bad. The "Goofs" section for this movie should be the longest in IMDb history.Look for Tom Arnold and the slut wife actress playing younger versions of themselves in the latter part of the movie; despite a cheap wig on Arnold and some bad vintage costumes, both are clearly middle-aged and wrinkly. Typical Baby Boomer conceit or mere low budget corner-cutting? You decide! Also amusing is a scene in which Tom Arnold decries the lack of Santa-less Coke cans in a drug store; in the next shot, there's a huge display of non-seasonal Coke cans in the background. Oops.Chasing Christmas drags on and on and by the end, we were drinking heavily, solemnly, white-knuckled grips on our glasses. All mirth was gone and even Arnold's embarrassing, desperate reformation couldn't bring the smiles back. This movie was tawdry, cheap, ill- conceived, and worst of all, boring. Avoid it.
Unlike any version of "A Christmas Carol" you've ever seen.
posted on 12 Sep 2008I caught this movie on ABC Family and thought it was really funny. There have been so many versions of A Christmas Carol that it was nice to see them do something different with it. I really liked the way that Christmas was run by an office and the ghosts were like secret agents.I talked to my grandparents, who also saw it, and they didn't like how it leaves the story of A Christmas Carol and goes off on its own story. But that's exactly why I liked it. So maybe it's not an old person movie. It certainly wasn't traditional.It was nice to see Andrea Roth, who is on Rescue Me (which I am a big fan of) do something comedic. And the little guy who plays The Ghost of Christmas Past was good too. And any movie that references Star Wars Holiday Special is fine by me.
A right old bag of crap
posted on 07 Aug 2008A dismal attempt to replay 'A Christmas Carol' with technological trappings and homages to 'Back To The Future'. After making fun of Dickens and his wonderful story, and introducing such cack-handed ideas as Candy Cane Chronometers, the movie has the Ghost Of Christmas Past deciding that he's had enough of showing people the error of their ways and would rather stay in 1965. So the Ghost Of Christmas Present (Andrea Roth, who looks good in a hot tub) travels back to put the timeline right. Tob Arnold seebs to habe a bad cold in the Scrooge role, but he does well considering the surrounding debacle. His reasons for disliking Christmas, and the scenes in which he revisits them, could have made for a poignant film in the right hands. Shame 'Chasing Christmas' isn't touching, funny, clever, or anything its makers think it is. It doesn't help that they present 'A Christmas Carol' as a fictional story that the characters in the movie are well aware of. And can I be geeky for a moment? Ta. 'The Star Wars Holiday Special' aired in November, not on Christmas Eve.
not a Christmas carol
posted on 27 Apr 2008Chasing Christmas is an interesting turn on A Christmas Carol. Arnold is a single dad that decided not to observe xmas because his wife left him around that time. The ghosts of xmas past and present try and get Arnold to relent, but they screw up their jobs and send themselves on a wild ride through time showing up at various times in Arnold's past. As they try and rectify the timeline and get back to the real present, they change some things. I think they successfully pull off the updated story because of the comic relief and the talent of the actors. There are quite a few lame parts, but overall a good watch. I'd give this film an A- for content and execution.
Delightfully pleasant
posted on 08 Mar 2008I like this twist offered on the take of "The Christmas Carol". It is a refreshing change from the normal Christmas movie. It was touching, funny, and sentimental. It offers you a message of the importance of family without the usual archaic bore. Despite how Tom Arnold became to be known, he still delivers a believable performance. Leslie Jordan gives an outstanding performance. Andrea Roth was just adorable. The cast is above average in their roles. If you want the standard old stuff usually offered up for Christmas movies, then this is not the film for you. If you want something different and unexpected, then you can't miss.
Bland & Boring
posted on 05 Dec 2007Although this didn't look much, I thought I would give it a try, as it had a Christmas theme, & based on the Christmas Carol. It also was fairly praised up by comments on here. Unfortunately, I have just spent 80+ minutes of my life watching a completely unfunny, badly acted, load of rubbish, & warn others to keep well away.Tom Arnold seems to have fallen a long way & got a lot thinner since his Roseanne days. Andrea Roth is supposed to be Christmas Present who is character falls for as she is so good looking & witty, whilst in reality is a complete bore. Worst though was a little midget masquerading as Christmas Past, who the plot evolves around, & seems to have a severe mental deficiency, whilst the rest of the cast sleepwalks to another TV movie.Bah Humbug
Couldn't finish watching it (Possible minor spoilers)
posted on 28 Sep 2007This TV film's attempt to make Tom Arnold appear attractive and appealing to Andrea Roth was creepy. Young Tom Arnold from 1978 was creepy. I like Tom Arnold, but not in this wreck of a film. The original idea of the Charles Dicken's Christmas having ongoing annual projects was likable, at first. But the movie went nowhere and the obvious ripoffs took funny lines from some classics and made them not funny.(You'll shoot your eye out kid from A Chritmas Story, and Chuck Berry's cousin calling Chuck, from Back to the Future were the obvious ripoffs I noted. I'm sure there were plenty more, I just became uninterested.) I turned it off, you should too. There are too many good Christmas shows out there to waste your time with this one.
If you like Andrea Roth, it's worth seeing.
posted on 09 May 2007The latest in the infinite TV movie re-workings of "A Christmas Carol," this movie - shown on the ABC Family Channel under the title "Chasing Christmas" - has some sense of fun and an occasional witty touch. But the main reason to see it is Andrea Roth's performance as "Present," a.k.a. the Ghost of Christmas Present. Without having all that much to work with in the script, she creates an attractive character who balances her sense of responsibility to her ghostly duties against a dawning appreciation of the daily pleasures of normal life. She even manages to make believable those moments when she needs to convey a romantic interest in Tom Arnold's Scrooge stand-in. At any given moment in Hollywood history, there always seem to be some good actresses who lack only a breakthrough role to reach the level of success they deserve. This movie doesn't give Roth that role, but - notwithstanding whatever weak points it has - it does let us enjoy her skill, intelligence, and charm. There's worse ways to pass two hours on a December evening.
Worthless
posted on 16 Mar 2007This "film" has no charm whatsoever. Christmas movies had at least better TRY to be special, and this is like watching the ABC movie of the week, sans big stars or a big budget. There's nothing here to enthrall a child, and there's bugger all remaining to hold the attention of an adult.Tom Arnold exchanging the "suck" word with his daughter. Lovely.The music is awful, and clumsily applied, desperately trying to remind you, in the midst of this dog, that you're watching something special. You're not.This is Christmas "product," meant to inexpensively fill the schedule grids during the Christmas season.
an original twist on "A Christmas Carol"
posted on 09 Dec 2006I loved this film! I highly recommend it to kids and adults. It's a modern take on the classic Dickens story, "A Christmas Carol." I've seen a few versions of "A Christmas Carol," so I picture bleary blizzards, old grumpy guys, and poor, poor little Timmy--so depressing. But when I saw this film, I was pleasantly surprised at how funny and original it was. It's set in modern day, and dad (played by the always entertaining, Tom Arnold) hates Christmas 'cause it reminds him of his awful divorce. And all his daughter wants for him is to enjoy Christmas and move past his past. Cue the ghosts--but this time it's not what you expect, ghosts don't always cooperate...I won't give away any more, you'll just have to watch it. It's the perfect film to get in the holiday spirit!
Aewsome and fun Christmas movie
posted on 31 Mar 2006I rented this movie as a kinda last minute mistake on Christmas Eve, I was hoping to get White Christmas but like I said.... I rented this. Maybe there was some film errors and maybe starwars was not played on Christmas eve, however to capture an time period I believe that creativity is an important feature, just like movies about the 60s will often have VW beetles from the 70s and so on and so forth. I though that it would be an awful B movie, however I do like Tom he was great in True Lies, this movie was a very fun and cute movie, exploring the real meaning of family in an enjoyable fable. The rest of the movie has amusing antidotes and a funny twist on the original Christmas carol. An absolutely marvelous and fun pleaser, and if you don't like Tom Arnold, maybe his roll will surprise you.
New look at an old story......
posted on 31 Aug 2009I own every version of Dicken's Christmas Carol that I can find, and they all have their good points. In "Chasing Christmas" the "scrooge" character is about as unlikeable as any I've seen, because this one is the dad of a beautiful teenage girl who longs for a normal Christmas. Her dad, who is embittered about Christmas because he caught his wife cheating on him on a Christmas Eve 7 years ago, hates everything about Christmas. Of course there are the usual Ghosts of Christmas, but in a unique twist, the Ghost of Christmas Past is also embittered at the world he sees now, and wishes to live in the past himself. Scrooge and Christmas Present embark on a funny and touching race to find "Past" before midnight, when everyone will be stuck in the past forever.
Not the greatest version of the classic, but a fun and likeable one.