Ryan Reynolds’ Unfairly Overlooked Holiday Comedy Is Dancing Back Onto Streaming

When most people think of Christmas movies, Elf immediately jumps to mind — but in 2022, Will Ferrell teamed up with another A-list powerhouse for a holiday comedy that deserved way more love than it got at release. That movie is Spirited, the musical, modernized take on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, co-starring Ryan Reynolds.

Now, with the holidays in full swing, Spirited has surged back into the conversation, landing at #9 on Apple TV’s Top 10, proving it’s finally getting its long-overdue second life on streaming. As an Apple TV original, the film has been available year-round, but its climb up the charts this month signals that audiences are rediscovering — or discovering for the first time — just how charming and ambitious this Christmas comedy really is. On Rotten Tomatoes, Spirited holds a70% critics’ rating and an 80% audience score, a rare case of a holiday musical landing well with both camps.

Directed by Sean Anders and written by Anders and John Morris, the same duo behind Instant Family, Daddy’s Home, and We’re the Millers, the film flips the traditional Scrooge narrative on its head. Ferrell plays the Ghost of Christmas Present, who selects Reynolds’ Clint Briggs — a ruthless, image-obsessed PR shark — as his latest redemption project. What follows is a flashy, high-energy, and surprisingly emotional musical adventure that blends Dickens with modern comedy, Broadway-sized numbers, and the self-aware humor Reynolds and Ferrell do best.

Is ‘Spirited’ Worth Watching?

Collider’s Ross Bonaime reviewed the movie for us. Awarding it a B-, Bonaime hailed the movie for acknowledging that it was adapting a classic and at least attempting to do something fresh and new with it, noting, “This approach doesn’t always work, but when it does, Spirited is a charming twist on a story we’ve all heard so many times before.”

However, Bonaime felt that the true magic in the film came in the leading duo, who bring their own special appeal to the film:

But the key to what makes this newest retelling work is the combination of Ferrell and Reynolds, both of whom are able to play to their comedic strengths, while also having the opportunity to do some solid dramatic work as well. This duo is delightful, and as they work together on Christmas Eve, it’s wonderful to watch how this relationship shifts. It doesn’t take long for Clint to investigate Present’s past, who he was when he was alive, and why he’s so dedicated to this position. It’s in this search for answers that Spirited comes up with its most interesting modification of Dickens’ story.

Spirited is streaming now on Apple TV.