I find musicals difficult to review as I always find myself trying to disentangle the singing from the acting, which, of course, does not work. Overall, it is a fun movie, especially if you like musicals. It is not a very original story, of course, as the "Scrooge" plot has been done many times. The twist here is it is done in a musical. Regarding the story, I did find the plot around building a mall a bit funny, given that they have been closing across the country. Anyway, the choreography (in the song and dance scenes) is fun and engaging. Indeed, the strongest scenes, I felt, were those when the full cast participated (e.g., the opening scene, the church scenes, the closing scene). The individual performances, I thought were mixed. The lead, Christine Baranski (as Regina) and Treat Williams (as Carl), both had good performances, even though they are not what I would call naturally good singers. Josh Segarra, playing the pastor, could really sing, but his acting was rather weak. I was unimpressed with Jeanine Mason's (as Felicity, the other angel) performance overall. The producers could have cast a stronger actor for this role, a pity really. Jenifer Lewis (as Margeline) and Matthew Johnson (Mack) were excellent, great voices/singing. And there was a cute performance by Selah Kimbro Jones as Violet; I really enjoyed her scene with Regina. Overall, a fun movie. However, if you are not a fan of musicals, you should probably sit this one out.
