When a toy manufacturer (Tim Allen) inadvertently kills Santa (actor unknown) on Christmas Eve, he finds himself magically recruited to take his place.
Tim Allen has a criminal record and Disney has a no hiring of ex-cons policy. An exception was made in this case. Odd, really. They had first considered Bill Murray and Chevy Chase, but settled on Allen. I think this may have been good. While both Chase or Murray could possibly have been better, they also both have their own notable Christmas movies, so it was time to pick a new comedian.
I am not big on Tim Allen, despite liking "Home Improvement" and enjoying his role here for the most part. I am, however, a fan of Judge Reinhold. This film is really great, though Reinhold gets the shaft. He is more or less a background character who wears ugly sweaters. (Why he has such a strong interest in the custody of a kid that is not his is open to speculation.) Allen shines, and as far as kids movies go, this is a pretty good one. Not sure how well it jibes with other Christmas or Santa myths, but I guess kids are not smart enough to really put that all together.
There could also be some debate about whether or not Santa is "killed". He falls off a roof, moves his hand a bit, and disappears. Now maybe this is because it would be too grim for a kids movie to have a corpse in a snow bank, but I suspect he did not actually die but simply faded away... it is left open to speculation.
One nice thing about this film is how it has humor for a wide age range. While geared towards children for the most part, there is still a healthy dose of more adult humor. No outright sex or violence, but some not-too-veiled references to drug use and other things not necessarily appropriate. But this is why it worked to cast Allen, because having him be completely G-rated seems out of place.
Definitely a much better Tim Allen Christmas film than "Christmas With the Kranks".
Tim Allen has a criminal record and Disney has a no hiring of ex-cons policy. An exception was made in this case. Odd, really. They had first considered Bill Murray and Chevy Chase, but settled on Allen. I think this may have been good. While both Chase or Murray could possibly have been better, they also both have their own notable Christmas movies, so it was time to pick a new comedian.
I am not big on Tim Allen, despite liking "Home Improvement" and enjoying his role here for the most part. I am, however, a fan of Judge Reinhold. This film is really great, though Reinhold gets the shaft. He is more or less a background character who wears ugly sweaters. (Why he has such a strong interest in the custody of a kid that is not his is open to speculation.) Allen shines, and as far as kids movies go, this is a pretty good one. Not sure how well it jibes with other Christmas or Santa myths, but I guess kids are not smart enough to really put that all together.
There could also be some debate about whether or not Santa is "killed". He falls off a roof, moves his hand a bit, and disappears. Now maybe this is because it would be too grim for a kids movie to have a corpse in a snow bank, but I suspect he did not actually die but simply faded away... it is left open to speculation.
One nice thing about this film is how it has humor for a wide age range. While geared towards children for the most part, there is still a healthy dose of more adult humor. No outright sex or violence, but some not-too-veiled references to drug use and other things not necessarily appropriate. But this is why it worked to cast Allen, because having him be completely G-rated seems out of place.
Definitely a much better Tim Allen Christmas film than "Christmas With the Kranks".