THE SANTA CLAUSE
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1994 Michael John Legeros
Buena Vista
Directed by John Pasquin
Written by Leo Benvenuti and Steve Rudnick
Cast Tim Allen, Eric Lloyd, Wendy Crewson, Judge Reinhold,
Peter Boyle, David Krumholtz
MPAA rating "PG"
Running time 95 minutes
Reviewed at Wynnsong, Durham (15NOV94)
==
Should you see this movie? Probably not--not unless you're under the age of ten. Based on the (de)merits of story mechanics alone, THE SANTA CLAUSE should be unwatchable. The trouble is the star. Tim Allen, of TV's "Home Improvement," has leaped to the big screen with his talent intact. He's witty, he's charming and, thanks to a *fantastic* make-up job, he's the life-presever for a movie that should sink. Plot holes can't swallow him, sentiment can't drown him; the comic even gets away with a decade-old ZZ Top gag.
The other cast members should be so lucky. Two child actors are good--Eric Lloyd and David Krumholtz--but the rest of the rest are bargain-basement at best. What can you say about a film where neither Judge Reinhold nor Peter Boyle are funny?
THE SANTA CLAUSE looks like a made-for-TV movie and that's no good. With the exception of Allen's exceptional make-up, the special effects consist almost entirely of blue screens and flying wires. Both of which can be tolerated, but avert thine eyes at the cheesy arctic soundstage. Shudder.
The story is sanitized--thank you, Mr. Disney--so most of the gags are of the warm, fuzzy variety. The tone is tame, but a divorce subplot a la MRS. DOUBTFIRE provides a slight reality check. What's really needed, though, is a narrative device to help chart the passage of time.
THE SANTA CLAUSE chronicles one year in the life of Scott Calvin (Allen), a busy businessman who just happens to be the big guy. Over the year his weight increases, his hair turns grey, and he develops a taste for cookies and milk. Because there's no framing device to count down to the big day, the entire midsection sags. Does dad gain all his weight in one week? Does his beard appear in July? Sigh.
The film wraps with a super-silly finale that should've been left on the cutting room floor. Who wants to see Santa and a SWAT team in the same frame? Oh, what John Hughes could've done here.
BOTTOM LINE: Sappy, sloppy Santa story that's strictly kids fare.
Even Allen fans may get bored. Ho ho HO!
Grade: C-
-- Michael J. Legeros Raleigh, North Carolina
.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews