I would love to see a documentary exploring candid opinions in the film industry of holiday flicks. What do actors, writers, directors, set decorators, costume designers, and everyone else think about a genre which from one movie to another, from one year to another, trades on the exact same themes, ideas, and aesthetics? No matter how the details might change, the primary thrust hardly does; are such titles considered a rite of passage, or an obligation, or an easy paycheck, or do folks earnestly enjoy making cookie cutter Christmas fare? Is there ever a point where the hard work and commitment that one makes for any such flick is less than what is borne out in any non-holiday flick? Well, in this instance, I think we have a fair answer for at least that last question. A line given to Leslie Nielsen in the first scene where we meet Santa seems all too appropriate as Jolly Old Saint Nick opines that "The people go through the motions but the spirit isn't there, the magic is gone." I don't know what concatenation of circumstances led to this precise iteration of 'Santa who?' - but while it's not bad, nor does it inspire as anything that one ever needs to specifically seek out.
We get all the expected themes about the meaning of Christmas, childhood belief, family, gratitude, commercialism, and so on and so on. The actors act, the location scouts found filing locations, the art director created some festive visuals, the effects artists whipped up computer-generated imagery on par with other contemporary works, and so on and so on. In fairness, there is some definite cleverness here and there, and a few laughs to be had, among all the situational comedy, jokes, gags, and silliness. It's a credit to the screenwriters that there are some meaningful, thoughtful storytelling on hand, too, in the last act. At its best it's mildly enjoyable; at its worst, it's emptily ham-handed. Of course, one considerable issue facing this feature is that between those ends of the spectrum, the lion's share of these ninety minutes is something that we can safely "watch" without actively engaging, and without even necessarily keeping our eyes on the screen. The material could hardly be more light, fluffy, and tried and true - and defined by the logic of Movie Magic - and while the sum total is decent, there's also nothing so special about it as to necessitate viewing. We've seen this before, and we will again; there's nothing wrong with that, but also, so what?
If you're looking for something uninvolved to put you in the "Christmas spirit," there are far worse ways to spend your time. Just don't raise your expectations or expect a revelation; save it for the holiday season, and that is surely the best way to get the most out of 'Santa who?'
