6.4 stars.
This film doesn't provide 'Everything Christmas' has to offer, but for certain gives us some insight into the mythos surrounding the holiday. Of course, there are a plethora of beliefs, but I will focus on the two primary ones. The first being that Christ was born and was sought out by shepherds and wise men with the aid of a star in the east, followed by the nativity 2000+ years ago. Second is the magic and mysticism of the Yuletide, A. K. A. The winter solstice (which is what actually happened on December 25, contrary to popular belief). Kris happens to be a false spelling of Chris or Christos (Greek for Messiah, the Anointed) and Kringle is a Norse surname that might be linked to Yuletide. There are those who believe in magic and mysticism of the Yuletide, but the present day Christmas is an amalgamation of multiple fables originating and melding over the past several hundred years by authors, historians, etc... The main characteristics of the west's current traditions stem from Catholicism mingled with Protestantism. Was Saint Nicholas just a good protestant man who was venerated by the Catholic church? Who knows.
It appears this film is about combining the two historical figures: Santa Claus, and The Christ. Notice that the emphasis rests upon two aspects of supernatural happenings: magic vs miracles: a little of both. It's Kris Kringle who is supposedly working these Godlike miracles, but he's a manifestation of The Christ, and so we have yet another fusion of traditions portraying the sentiment that Saint Nick is the same person, performing miracles (considered magic) and teaching us to have faith, rather than settle on coincidences alone. He performs "tricks" that cannot be explained, but they manipulate fate instead of being called divine intervention, or maybe a bit of both. And we also have an allegory of different types of people, a woman named L. J. (Busby) who has faith, but what sort of faith? In contrast her best friend Viktoria (Barrell), who has no faith and feels it's all just coincidence (she's the doubter), and the two men who are nothing more than bystanders and love interests (representing the uneducated, ignorant, innocent, vast majority of other peoples).
Do I think the writers had all this allegorical, figurative, metaphorical nonsense in mind when they penned this script? Yes. If so, did they wholeheartedly commit to this allegorical Santa/Messiah unification? No. Notice how at the end the mayor explains how this Kris Kringle fellow is simply a magician, a flim flam, if you will. Highly unlikely considering the miracles/magic he performed, which no magician mastermind could accomplish. Is there an agenda? Who knows, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. A bit of an abomination if you ask me.
