This Will Ferrell And Ryan Reynolds Christmas Movie Is The Perfect Way To Get Into The Holiday Spirit

While it is still a relatively recent Christmas movie (having only been released back in 2022), Spirited has quickly become a fan favorite movie. One look at the cast should tell anyone exactly why that is the case. The combination of Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell was practically begging to happen, and having a well-rounded cast that includes Octavia Spencer, Sunita Mani, and even Tracy Morgan certainly helps. This Apple TV+ movie was clearly a big win for the streamer.

The movie is based on the familiar Christmas classic that is Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, but it strives to bring something fresh to the formula. In addition to plenty of comedy, the movie is also a musical, with Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds each doing their own singing and dancing throughout. The movie is a bomb of festivity, making it the perfect way to get into the Christmas spirit.

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What Is Spirited About?

Spirited Marley, Present, Past, and Yet-To-Be stand around

Spirited
Director	Sean Anders
Writers	Sean Anders, John Morris
Starring	Will Ferrell Ryan Reynolds Octavia Spencer Sunita Mani Patrick Page Marlow Barkley Tracy Morgan
Release Date	November 18, 2022
Runtime	127 minutes
Budget	$75 million

With a unique spin on A Christmas Carol, Spirited sees Jacob Marley and the various ghosts of Christmas working more like a business, who get to work redeeming a new Scrooge every Christmas. As one might expect, all of this information is presented in the form of a musical number. Will Ferrell’s character, Present, is due for retirement, but he avoids the topic because he wants to keep doing what he loves. The team's target this hear is Ryan Reynold’s character, Clint, who is introduced as a rude and conniving consultant through a festive Christmas number. Through Clint’s song, it’s clear that profit and success are all that matter to people like him.

When it comes time for the haunt to begin, Present watches as Clint convinces his young niece to post a video that will sabotage her rival in a race to become class president. Clint’s long-time assistant, Kimberly, is the one who found the video, but she is soon distracted by Present, whom she shouldn't be able to see. Later that night, Clint’s haunt truly begins.

First visited by Marley, Clint can’t take the situation seriously, so when he’s visited later by the Ghost of Christmas Past, he ends up sleeping with her. Due to the awkwardness of the situation, Present ends up filling in for Past. He leads Clint through previous key moments in his life involving a Christmas from his childhood, an old ex-girlfriend, and most importantly, memories of his sick sister, Carrie. Thanks to Clint being a major Scrooge about the whole situation, Present takes drastic measures and shows Clint his own past. It turns out that Present is none other than the spirit of Ebenezer Scrooge himself, redeemed from his own evil past.

Present shows Clint his past because both men were considered unredeemable, which is why Present cares so much about helping. After a scolding, Present tries to get things back on track, eventually succeeding in getting Clint to relive his past trauma. With Present’s turn officially come to an end, Yet-To-Come steps in to show Clint that his niece will end up posting a mean video about her rival, something that will result in that young boy’s death. Unwilling to let his niece do that, Clint rushes to save the day.

What Is Spirited’s Rotten Tomatoes Score?

Ryan Reynolds Will Ferrell Spirited Trailer

If Apple TV+'s delightfully modern iteration of the christmas classicA Christmas Carol sounds like a good time, it won’t be a surprise to hear that both critics and general audiences have been loving the film. While fans have been kinder to the film, giving it 81% on Rotten Tomatoes, the critics have been a bit tougher, though still giving it a solid rating of 71%. The fan reviews tend to sing praises of the varied performances, fun twist on a familiar tale, enjoyable musical numbers, and plenty of great comedy bits. Those who didn’t enjoy the film seemed to feel like it just wasn’t strong enough and went on for too long.

Echoing this, there were a number of critics who felt that Spirited is a touch too long as well. There also was criticism of the vocal performances from the cast. However, just as many were willing to cut Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds some slack, as neither one has a major Broadway background. Many critics felt the film was a worthy yearly watch, and even if it's not amazing, it is still a ton of fun for the holiday season. Nadir Samara of Screen Rant concluded a review with a positive tone, stating:

Spirited is a welcome entry to the slate of Christmas movies. The leads are great in their roles and acceptable as singers. The cast is hilarious and more impressively, almost every joke lands. Apple TV+ hasn’t had much luck outside of Coda in terms of making a splash with their films and Spirited will not change that. But damn it if it isn’t a good old-fashioned and fun Christmas flick.

How Does Spirited End?

With Yet-To-Come finished with his role, Clint rushes to find Wren in order to stop her from ruining the life of her rival. Making it to the ice rink, he tries to stop her, but ends up being blocked at the last moment by an angry Kimberly. Luckily, Kimberley had already made sure Wren wouldn’t post the video. Regardless of how things turned out, Present believes that Clint’s haunt is now fully complete and that he’s been redeemed. Unfortunately, nothing happens.

Clint makes it clear that even though he tried to do something good, he’s still the same selfish person he’s always been, and likely will just go back to his old ways in a week or so. With his faith in redemption shaken, Present finds himself facing down a bus barreling in his direction, only to be saved by Clint at the last possible moment. Instead of Clint being broken by the bus, time then freezes, and it is revealed that he has in fact been redeemed.

After a brief musical number, time starts again, causing Clint to be run over by the bus, killing him. With Present and Clint having effectively switched places, Clint gets a great idea that results in him taking over for his friend.

A few years down the road, Clint is enjoying his new position with his new spirit family, and even pays Present a visit to get some tips on a tricky case. With Present living a happy life with Kimberley, Clint thrilled in the afterlife, and Wren thriving and in college, everyone has their happy ending as the movie ends on a final song.