I Hate Christmas Too (1997)

This is an interesting seasonal short – a bit on-the-nose, message-wise, but still pretty good.  I enjoyed it.

In I Hate Christmas Too, a modern-day Scrooge type is grumbling over holiday obligations when he’s visited by the Ghost of a Very Specific Christmas Past:  a soldier from the 1914 Christmas truce.  As the soldier recounts his Christmas memories, both grim and hopeful, the man is given a new perspective on the season.

PC plays the unnamed man.  Since the piece is only six minutes long, he doesn’t have a wealth of time in which he can grow and change as a person.  Thus, the turn-around is maybe a little hokey, but hey, so is A Christmas Carol, and like that story, this film rests more on the strength of the otherworldly encounter than the plausibility of the growth.  The conversation between the man and the soldier is suitably compelling.

It’s a fine job in a fairly undemanding role.  PC delivers what he ought to – an initial humbuggedness shifting gradually into newfound Christmas cheer – playing the less exciting role opposite the soldier/ghost.

The ghost, by the way, is played by none other than Samuel West.  Who in the world is that, you may ask?  Well, if you’re anything like me, you have a nostalgic fondness for the old Masterpiece versions of The Chronicles of Narnia, and Samuel West played the Dawn-Treader-era Caspian.  (Not quite as cool as the moment I realized Tom Baker played Puddleglum in The Silver Chair, but those old Narnia connections always make me happy.)

Accent Watch

I’m thinking Scottish.  I could be thrown off by the soldier’s obvious Scottish accent and PC’s comparative lack of lines, but that’s how it sounds to me.

Recommend?

In General – Why not?  It’s hard to go wrong with six minutes, and I’m such a sucker for WWI stuff.  Go for it, I’d say.

PC-wise – Not necessarily.  A nice enough role, and like I said, short enough that it won’t put you out, but it’s not wow-worthy or anything.

Warnings

Thematic elements dealing with the war.