Jack Cameron is a bitter man. His marriage went south with his wife cheating on him and it pretty much left him broke and unwilling to move forward in life. His daughter wants him to get past it and embrace life…or at least…maybe Christmas. But Jack won’t budge. This brings him to the attention of the infamous Ghosts. Or rather, the organization that gives the the orders of who to visit each Christmas.
But when the Ghost of Christmas Past goes rogue, Jack finds himself and the Ghost of Christmas Present trapped in the past and in a race against time to save the very holiday he despises.
The film is, in some respects, one of the more imaginative takes. The ghosts are all part of a corporate entity. Each Ghost is an employee fulfilling a role. All the ghosts fall into strictly human appearance. And setting up a situation where Jack is stuck in the setting of the past, allowing him to see things that he missed in his youth, revealing how flawed the footing of his marriage from the start.
Of course, you cannot merely come to terms with a failed marriage, as Jack starts to be drawn to the attractive Ghost of Christmas Present. Because truly moving forward in the movies always means finding new love. So, there is a lot of predictability here…but I actually found Arnold pretty sympathetic here. He is pretty good moving from confounded to accepting of the predicament.
This won’t change a Scrooge, but it is a light bit of holiday TV movie fare that entertains.
Tripping Through Gateways 
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