Johnny Depp’s Ebenezer is getting a rather chilly welcome from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics received the film the way every family receives fruitcake, with a polite smile and a plan to regift it. A Victorian miser, a ghostly guest list, and a famously flamboyant leading man were supposed to deliver Home Alone levels of holiday joy. However, the early reviews suggest this Christmas comeback may need a little more than a festive makeover, even from one of Hollywood’s most recognizable costume chameleons.

While Scrooge needed three ghosts to learn about Christmas, Depp needed only one Tomatometer reading to learn how critics feel.

Johnny Depp’s Ebenezer comeback sits at 51% on Rotten Tomatoes, one of the lowest scores of any major A Christmas Carol adaptation. The film marks his first return to a major Hollywood studio production in eight years. His last one was Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018. Paramount Pictures released the Ti West gothic dark fantasy in theaters on November 13, giving Scrooge a cold welcome.

Rotten Tomatoes places Ebenezer just below Disney’s A Christmas Carol from 2009 with Jim Carrey, which sits at roughly 52%. The Muppet Christmas Carol lands near 79%, while the 1951 Alastair Sim classic, Scrooge, climbs past 84%. Metacritic offers no comfort either, with a score near 46. Critics admire the atmospheric production design and Depp’s committed performance, but others call it chilly and redundant.

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While reviewers argue over whether Scrooge needed another haunting, Depp handed his youngest co-stars advice that doubles as a punchline.

Johnny Depp gave the young stars of Ebenezer a piece of career advice that sounds like a joke but comes from a man who has lived it. Real-life siblings Eva and Zac Wishart, who play Martha and Peter Cratchit, recently shared the advice with Deadline at the London premiere. Depp, who plays Ebenezer Scrooge himself, told them plainly that there is no such thing as a serious actor, because the phrase is an oxymoron.

The idea is not new for Depp, who questioned the concept of a serious actor in a 2001 interview, noting the oddity of earning a living through make-believe. His career has long leaned on exaggeration and unusual physicality. Scrooge now gets careful emotional groundwork from an actor who refuses to call himself serious. The verdict is harsh, yet a lump of coal still burns, and every comeback needs some fuel.

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What are your thoughts on Johnny Depp’s Ebenezer comeback after eight years? Let us know in the comments.