6.7 stars.
I have mixed feelings about 'Letters to Santa'. It's a nice story about two kids who want their parents back together. Mom and dad are separated due to some unknown circumstances that we are not aware of until much later. She gives us her reasons why she told him to go live with his mother, but those aren't the actual problems. What also happened is he misspent some precious money and she felt somewhat betrayed. He didn't cheat or anything. The whole premise is very weak. If a marriage can break on something as flimsy as this, we are all doomed. But the rest of the film is not too bad. Yes, the parents bicker. Yes, there are slow parts. The children are endearing and the fitness woman is actually likable too, as is the "elf". The mother is a regular Latina seen in many films and she does fine. The lead female grows on you after a while, but she is an acquired taste, and my theory is that she is the reason for many negative reviews. The lead male is charismatic, but his personality is absent. For some reason he's not present and it's disconcerting, because beside his apparent lack of focus, he just doesn't show up for the part. I wonder if that's not the final straw for this movie. Cast two different lead actors and you probably have a winner here. What are the odds that both of them fail to entertain? Oh well, it happens.
I have mixed feelings about 'Letters to Santa'. It's a nice story about two kids who want their parents back together. Mom and dad are separated due to some unknown circumstances that we are not aware of until much later. She gives us her reasons why she told him to go live with his mother, but those aren't the actual problems. What also happened is he misspent some precious money and she felt somewhat betrayed. He didn't cheat or anything. The whole premise is very weak. If a marriage can break on something as flimsy as this, we are all doomed. But the rest of the film is not too bad. Yes, the parents bicker. Yes, there are slow parts. The children are endearing and the fitness woman is actually likable too, as is the "elf". The mother is a regular Latina seen in many films and she does fine. The lead female grows on you after a while, but she is an acquired taste, and my theory is that she is the reason for many negative reviews. The lead male is charismatic, but his personality is absent. For some reason he's not present and it's disconcerting, because beside his apparent lack of focus, he just doesn't show up for the part. I wonder if that's not the final straw for this movie. Cast two different lead actors and you probably have a winner here. What are the odds that both of them fail to entertain? Oh well, it happens.