Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds have fun twisting 'A Christmas Carol' in 'Spirited' | Movie review

Nov. 14—On a dark-and-rainy night, a woman kneels before a gravestone as a menacing cloaked figure towers above her, an unnaturally long, boney finger extended toward her.

She grovels — and complains a little — before sinking into the ground completely.

"Don't worry about her," a friendly-sounding narrator tells us. "In a few minutes, she'll wake up in her bed, dry, rested and, hopefully, a whole new person."

It is the voice of Will Ferrell, portraying the Ghost of Christmas Present in "Spirited," a holiday musical comedy already in select theaters that debuts on Apple TV+ this week.

Yes, as a character will admit a bit later, this is yet another adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" that "nobody asked for."

But here's the thing: We're happy to have it.

That's largely because it stars the appealing duo of Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds, which is every bit as enjoyable as you'd expect.

However, "Spirited" also benefits from the work of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the talented songwriting tandem whose credits include "La La Land," "Dear Evan Hansen" and "The Greatest Showman." They pack the tale with well-crafted tunes that work even though the two male performers most responsible for delivering them aren't exactly vocal giants. (Ferrell brings more to the table than Reynolds in this department, not surprising given years of comedy that often involves singing, but the latter holds his own.)

Ferrell's Present has been in rotten-people-changing business for many a decade, working alongside Past (Sunita Mani of "Mr. Robot") and Yet to Come (voiced by Tracy Morgan, "Coming 2 America"), who wants a bigger role in their productions — he's been working on catchphrases — even though he gets stagefright when he tries to speak on the job.

They have a giant tech-savvy support staff and a boss in Jacob Marley (Patrick Page, "In the Heights"), who needs to find the target for next year's supernatural production, the humbuggy guy or gal whose transformation to king-heartedness will have a ripple effect on many others. He likes a mean hotel manager who has hundreds working below him, but Present isn't feeling it.

He has his eyes on Reynolds' Clint Briggs, a media consultant who admittedly charges "comically enormous fees," generates disinformation, confusion and chaos on behalf of his clients and, perhaps most importantly, believes that people can't change.

"He's like the perfect combination of Mussolini and Seacrest," an awed Present quips.

Jacob thinks otherwise but relents to Present's wishes to stop another musical number from breaking out. It can be easy to forget "Spirited" is a musical, so Jacob's repeated surprise when a song begins sometimes echoes our own.

We all need to accept it, though, and the elaborate number "Good Afternoon" — in which Present and Clint visit a long-ago place where that simple phrase wasn't so innocuous — features a really fun cameo and may be reason enough to stream "Spirited." (Speaking of cameos, the woman learning her lesson in the opening scene is played by Rose Byrne, and Jimmy Fallon portrays himself hosting his late-night show.)

Ultimately, though, this is a buddy comedy, so while Clint clearly has some lessons to learn, he'll also have something to teach Present before their shared adventure is over. Present, it turns out, has the option to live life as a real person and has considered a simple life with a family, as well as experiencing "one of those new-fangled mouth kisses."

He shares an immediate connection with Clint's assistant, Kimberly (Octavia Spencer, "Thunder Force"), who's understandably troubled by the most recent task given to her by the boss.

"Spirited" is directed by the dependable Sean Anders ("Horrible Bosses 2," "Instant Family"), who co-wrote the screenplay with frequent collaborator John Morris.

The romp isn't as tightly constructed as you'd hope and can be a little messy. However, Ferrell ("Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga," "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy") can make comedic gold out of almost nothing, and he's been given a lot more than nothing to work with here.

Reynolds ("Free Guy," "Deadpool"), meanwhile, is so naturally magnetic that we never really buy Clint being all that bad of a guy — but, to be fair, the movie probably wouldn't work if he were. Mani's Past certainly is into the handsome bad boy, asking Present at one point to describe the smell of Clint's hair.

"Spirited" offers a lot of fun little gags that work, along with a few misfires.

It all adds up to an early little holiday gift that, given its availability on a major streaming platform, could keep on giving through to the new year.

'Spirited'

Where: Apple TV+.

When: Nov. 18.

Rated: PG-13 for language, some suggestive material and thematic elements.

Runtime: 2 hours, 7 minutes.

Stars (of four): 2.5.