I recently watched this 1999 version of A Christmas CAROL again and it's just not good. There's quite a bit I could discuss...from the pedestrian production values and obvious studio sets, to the performances that range from okay to terrible! But it's Patrick Stewart's performance I've just got to get into.<br /><br />As much respect as I have for Stewart, I'm sorry to say this is the worst performance of Ebenezer Scrooge I've ever seen. I honestly don't know what he's doing at times. One moment he appears to be frightened by Jacob Marley's ghost, the next he's calmly helping lift Marley's jaw when his jaw-wrap is untied. Scrooge then asks Marley, in a curiously philosophical manner, why spirits walk the earth.<br /><br />When Marley indicates to Scrooge that he, too, forges his own set of chains, Stewart looks around as if to locate the invisible chains. Then he slowly turns his head up toward Marley, smiles and say, "Jacob...Speak comfort to me!" Stewart delivers the line as if he believes Marley is pulling a prank...as if he's actually saying, "Jacob...(you old practical joker, you) speak comfort to me!" Strange.<br /><br />Yet when he visits his Christmases Past, Present and most of the future, Stewart is oddly stoic the whole time...even during tragic moments.<br /><br />There's a moment when the Ghost of Christmas Present tells Scrooge Tiny Tim will die, Stewart just folds his arms and looks down. I'm not sure what Stewart is trying to communicate at that moment because crossing one's arms is traditionally a defensive posture. Was his Scrooge trying to suppress himself from being emotional, thus folding his arms? Or is that Stewart's way of expressing sadness? Either way, it's a strange choice, made worse by the fact that he remains just as unemotional later as he watches the Cratchets' mourn for Tiny Tim. I'm not looking for Patrick Stewart to break into a crying fit...I just want to be able to discern some sort of emotional response from Scrooge.<br /><br />Probably the worst decision Stewart makes occurs during the critical graveyard scene. As with all other versions of A Christmas Carol, Scrooge overhears businessmen talking about a recently deceased associate. He also witnesses the dead man's effects being pawned off. By the start of the graveyard scene Scrooge should at least have SOME idea that perhaps, just maybe, he's the dead man. This is why Scrooge hesitates to view the tombstone and asks if the future can be changed before even reading the inscribed name. Practically all the other actors who've portrayed Scrooge have understood this concept: Scrooge KNOWS it's going to be his name on that stone...he just doesn't want to believe it. So he must read the name to fully come to terms with his fate.<br /><br />But Patrick Stewart plays the scene as if it comes as a total surprise. He looks down at the name on the stone and, in a rare show of emotion, looks up at the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come with genuine shock! Then he starts crying and begging for mercy and promises to change.<br /><br />Why does he think the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come showed him these moments? Who else could the dead man have been? Is his Ebenezer Scrooge so clueless? This is an AWFUL decision by Stewart.<br /><br />It's as if nothing about Scrooge's Past, Present or Future really registered until he realized he was going to die. Only the thought of his own death made him change. Had he never read his name on the tombstone, he probably would not have changed at all. That's the impression we get from Stewart's choice to be stoic and unemotional up until the graveyard scene.<br /><br />At least Stewart's performance as the reformed Scrooge is appropriate...for the most part. Unfortunately, there is an extremely awkward moment in which he appears to be choking, then bursts into laughter. I think I know what Stewart was going for: Scrooge hasn't laughed for so long, he physically forgot how. Thus, he has to choke out the laughter. It doesn't work! It's a moment Stewart no doubt thought was clever, yet seems forced and unrealistic.<br /><br />Another reviewer suggested Patrick Stewart seems to be trying too hard to be a different Scrooge. I think that's true. While I believe the character is open to different interpretations, Stewart's choices seem to be all wrong (even his decision to stay completely bald...I would love to have seen some side-burns and a bit of hair growth around the temples).<br /><br />Believe it or not, I do hate to be so negative because I respect Patrick Stewart and have enjoyed past performances (my mom absolutely loves him). I know he's played this character on stage before in a one-man-show, and he claims to have a unique perspective of Scrooge. Yet Stewart seems uncomfortable and confused in the role.<br /><br />Earlier I asked if Patrick Stewart's Scrooge was clueless. In truth, I believe that description belongs to the actor himself. After all his years of experience with A Christmas Carol on stage, Patrick Stewart doesn't know Ebenezer Scrooge at all.