Becoming Santa

This film is just really silly, but I persevered all the way to the end, because I have to support my husband Jesse Hutch.

I could cope with the ridiculous Father Christmas, who was quite obviously wearing a muscle suit under his costume, instead of a fat suit for some reason? I could also cope with the funny little man playing Mario the Elf. I could almost even cope with the tosspot that ran the toy company, but Jack Frost was just so vile he made my skin crawl and I don't think it was just his acting!

It's a good story, but I'd like to see a more serious version. However it was better that the producers of this film decided to go fully silly instead of the odd mix you can sometimes get.

Also, there's no way kids would rave about a wooden dog with wheels!

Things go downhill when Holly and Connor travel to the north pole. Some of the casting and acting was better than my '2' rating, Uncle Mario in particular was a pleasant relief from what was otherwise a horrible production. My least favorite character was Jack, but it wasn't necessarily his acting. Rather, it was everything else about him ... casting, plot, writing, directing. (Why was he always in "their" home?) Casting for Santa (A.K.A. Nick) was particularly bad, as was Nick's fake beard. Santa and Mrs. Claus' acting was pathetic, although that is probably more the fault of the director rather than the actors. The only reason I wasted two hours watching the whole thing, was so that I could submit a review. I almost forgot to mention that both of the scenes at Connor's workplace were also pathetic.

Even comparing this to the admittedly low bar set by other Christmas movies, this is just awful. A weak plot, poor acting (with the exception of Meredith Baxter Birney), and terrible effects. For example, when they're sitting on the roof in the snow, the snow bounces- because it's obviously cotton batting. And the shooting star flying through the sky? I could throw a flashlight and make a more convincing magic star.

My husband and I decided that Jesse Hutch looks like the love child of Seth McFarland and Christopher Knight. Laura Bell Bundy? I just kept waiting for her to yell "Boats! Boats! Boats!". I do have to say the Clauses did have a lovely ski lodge house.

This was just painful. Though i should rate this a 1 or 2, I'm giving it a 3, because it's Christmas and I'm feeling generous.

This is an incredibly formulaic film that fits every cliche going. Despite that it is quite fun to watch if you start with low expectations. None of the cast are particularly well known and the writing is of an acceptable standard. It fits perfectly into the genre of easy to watch Xmas films which enable you to switch off your brain for an afternoon.

The storyline is utterly predictable, as can be gathered from the title, the acting is OK and any twists either signalled or absent. Character development is none existent, but one dimensional characters never need developing anyway. As long as you don't want any intellectual stimulation, this film is fine.

This attempt at a seasonal film is cringeworthy despite the efforts of the cast to rescue a bad script. However, I can see why some people might like this low budget effort when it includes Meredith Baxter and Laura Bell Bundy.