Movie Review

"An American Carol" is not your conventional movie.

To say the least. Call it a cross over between "Airplane III" and....well.....something you've never seen in a movie theater before.

Conservatism.

Hollywood doesn't do conservatism. At least not in large doses. Sure, Saving Private Ryan showed soldiers as hero's and the Chronicles of Narnia had an implicit Christian theme, but overall, la la land does not cater to any pro-conservative or pro-Christian themes. And even when they do, they don't acknowledge the positive impact it has upon their bottom line.

American Carol is a very pro-military, pro-America, anti-Michael Moore flick that tries to be funny, but makes much more sense when it gets a little serious and reflective. In fact, the director (who apparently did past movies like "Airplane," a really stupid-funny film) would have been very wise to make a more contemplative movie that used a little humor to break the ice from time to time. Instead, the more serious and poignant moments broke the ice for the tepid humor, which many times wandered off into a decidedly crass area that embarrassed the point of the picture. When godless dim-wits have kids cuss in flicks, it's bad enough, but in this movie, it makes the producers and writers seem low rent.

Michael Moore and anti-military liberals are the brunt of the joke of this satire, which is fine, and helps a movie searching for genre keep a point running through the theme. Chris Farley's brother plays the part of the pseudo-Moore, and does an admirable job of it. He looks the part but is so much like his late brother in speech and body language, you think more about Chris than Michael. Other notable actors such as Kelsey Grammer and John Voigt lend a certain seriousness to the scenes, and after about 20 minutes in, you find yourself wondering who else is going to be seen in this anti-Hollywood flick. The "terrorists" were probably the most forgettable characters, reminding one of Laurel and Hardy, which was funny once 50 years ago. A little stale now.

Moore is portrayed just as he really is -- a dumpy, uninformed, angry liberal who hates business, the military, guns, conservatives, and decent clothing. Much fun (too much, really) is made of documentaries being low rent rags. Moore, by proxy, is shown to be in need of a trip through history to show why America is not only great, but in need of constant defending. JFK even makes an appearance, and the director does a good job of convincing the audience that even that skirt chaser had a hard stand upon aggressive enemies in various speeches. To be pointed, the movie suggests that if Moore would really pay attention to ALL of our history, he would change his mind and views. Maybe that's a huge step in wishing, but that's what movies are made of.

You will not laugh too hard during this movie, but you will also not be too turned off by cheesy scenes, because there are few of them. Actually, as the movie progresses and little snippets of scenes showing tid bits of history are viewed, you may find yourself wishing that the movie had been a far more serious affair. Particularly effective was the section exposing the extreme liberalism that blossomed on the West coast and pervaded colleges from then on.

Some really strong conservative statements are uttered through out the movie, which is the biggest disconnect the audience experiences. It is strange to sit in any movie theater and hear someone say that Islamic countries are our vowed enemies and need to be defeated. The shame comes from feeling uncomfortable hearing that in a movie theater.

There are a few really dumb scenes that are repetitive and show disabled children being "hurt," innocently, of course, a la Airplane, and the 4 or 5 times a child cusses for no real effect, and some cleavage scenes that add not a thing to the purpose, but other than that and the fact that it gets a "D" on the comedy scale, it is a refreshing movie to watch. Besides, at 1 hour and 20 minutes, it doesn't take that much time.

This movie had great potential, if the director/producers could have either made it really funny (which was certainly possible, given the ridiculous nature of liberals), or really pointed with a little humor thrown in to keep it palatable. Based loosely upon Charles Dickens work as it was, it had that potential. Just a word to the wise -- when conservatives do take a chance and make a movie, they undermine their message when they use juvenile humor and gutter language and references. Not everyone who is conservative is high brow or Christian, but all conservatives need to understand that they are seen through a different lens by liberals.

Go see American Carol, if for no other reason than to just experience conservatism in a movie theater. Don't expect to howl in laughter, nor cry in emotionalism. But if you are a true conservative, you will experience delight and spontaneous applause at least 6 times guaranteed.

Grade scale: 1 is poor, 10 is excellent

Comedy: 3
Drama: 4
Clarity of purpose: 8
Use of dialogue: 6
Cinematography: 5
Continuity: 6
Special effects: 3
Character development: 4
Lead actor(s): 5
Supporting actor(s): 5