Santa Fake

You can't blame a movie's quality if there is a lack of budget. In a perfect representation of "you get what you pay for", a low budget movie will appear so.

First, the good. When you get capable actors Heather Morris, veterans Judd Nelson and John Rhys-Davies, and talented newcomer Damian McGinty, you would think there could do something worth watching, but they can only do so much with what they were given. Other than that, this movie feels like it had its heart in the right place, but there isn't much more to celebrate.

So now, the bad. Again, the production quality is hard to ignore as it becomes evident in almost every scene. That said it's hard to get pulled into the story when fast motion makes the video strobe (watch Mrs. Ortega walk in front of the tapestry), when characters look yellow when they're indoors (no white balance?), or when McGinty's great voice sounds like he's singing in a bucket.

I could even look past these production issues if the story/humour/narrative is pleasant. But strange errors, stranger decisions, and an awkward story make that an impossibility as well. I could look past the punny title of this movie. (It's in Santa Fe, get it?) I could look past 'toaster effects' to show the characters travelling cross country. I could even look past the climactic finale's "proposition" that is, well, odd. But when the FBI agent says a briefcase needs to be fingerprinted, then IMMEDIATELY hands it to his partner who is not wearing gloves, I couldn't help but yell: DID NO ONE SEE THIS?!

So, while this was a valiant effort, this movie unfortunately falters in almost all aspects. 2 out of 10.