User reviews

The movie feels disjointed at several points with the ending appearing to be haphazardly thrown together. That didn't make sense to me until I looked at the cast list and realized there might have been a major re-write, re-shoot. Jack Black's partner from Tenacious D, Kyle Gass, plays an English teacher that is in the far background of one scene.. and looks very much like Santa Claus. Now this is just my speculation, but I don't imagine he would have had such a small part in the film initially (historically he has always had much larger roles). After his controversial statements on the attempted assassination of Trump I have a suspicion the film went through major editing and changes.. making the ending feel out of place. It's just a guess at this point, but it's the only thing that seems to explain why professional actors and directors would release something this horrible.

I am not one to generally watch or like Christmas films, but Dear Santa had an intriguing premise and so I decided to give it a try. I was honestly surprised by how much I liked it.

I was concerned the film might lean too hard into slapstick or over-the-top silliness, but only one literal toilet joke dragged on a bit too long for my tastes. It focuses more on witty dialogue/situations and has some surprisingly touching moments.

This film will no doubt get flak from the religious crowd for invoking the devil, which likely explains part of the low review score. However, I thought it brought something fresh to the table without feeling disrespectful (It even lightly touches on some theological arguments).

The one downside for me was the acting among the child actors was a little rough in parts, but it is a minor issue and a common complaint in films with younger actors.

Whatever the case, I'd definitely recommend giving Dear Santa a chance if you're looking for something heartfelt and unconventional that is still very much a Christmas film.

This is a fine movie with an ending that is destructive. It is so awful and cheap, but more importantly - could break someone.

It takes every easy route throughout, and is a masterclass in cheap writing. However, the end makes the cheap choices throughout seem like Sixth Sense level plot developments.

The young actors aren't great, Jack Black isn't great. The premise deserved a better go at it.

I laughed out loud a few times, but the jokes rely on Jack Black being self deprecating and don't really go anywhere. My 11-year old watched it with me, and even he saw each plot development.

Skip it. Skip it twice.

Jack Black is undoubtedly the star of this film.

His acting, eccentric mannerisms, and slapstick comedy evoke Jim Carrey's style - both actors light up the screen with their infectious energy!

The film cleverly weaves witty and darkly satirical dialogue into a broader commentary on contemporary Western society, particularly addressing issues of childhood bullying and dysfunctional parent-child relationships.

Yet the movie never wallows in darkness; instead, it remains vibrant, colorful, and full of laughs.

Post Malone delivers an entertaining cameo, and true to Christmas movie tradition, it wraps up with a heartwarming ending!

Perfect for holiday season viewing...

Recommended!

Maybe it's the intense backlash from a particular crowd but you'd say my interest was peaked. Jack black delivered an excellent portrayal of Satan enjoying the spelling error that changed a kids life. Many familiar faces that make up a great supporting cast. The kid was cute and genuine and relatable. You root for him. Jack Black is the light of the party though as you might expect.

There is some light swearing but it's used comically and not for the sake of it. There is a cute relationship that develops with the kid and his crush and the behavior never feels outside the norm. Post Malone was cool, as expected. Big shout-out to the friend with big teeth, he's a real homie.

I liked it. Others won't for reasons but some won't for some very specific reasons. It's a movie where a kid writes Satan instead of Santa and mild chaos ensues. That's a good time.

Let's start by saying, I'm a massive Jack Black fan... This was the reason for watching this film, after seeing the trailer - my interest was peaked!! However, my husband and I couldn't watch any more than the first 23 minutes (not quite sure how we managed that long, to be honest!). The acting is the worst I've seen in a non made for tv movie, it was like watching people just reading lines to each other! And the direction was just terrible - point and film each 'actor' that is talking!! We only watched one scene with Mr Black in and unfortunately, it just wasn't enough to keep us watching!! Off it went!! Please don't waste precious Christmas time watching this!! Sorry Jack :-(

Holy cow was this movie was difficult to watch. The previews made this little Christmas jaunt look pretty hilarious.

I am always looking for irreverent holiday comedies to add into my yearly rotation. So obviously I wanted to give "Dear Santa" a whirl.

This was from the creators of Dumb and Dumber? I never would've known... Dear Santa plays out like a bunch of celebrities got together and filmed it over a drunken weekend.

I don't think I laughed once. The acting is beyond terrible. The jokes are flat and painfully unfunny. You can tell the lines are scripted but it comes off as "acting school" improve. No joke. Not one actor provided a moment of humor.

Geeze this was a freaking chore to get through...I gave it two stars because I genuinely like Jack Blacks vocal work for Satan. He didn't sound like Jack Black was playing... well... Jack Black per his usual performances.

Skip it. It's not a kids movie. It's not a funny irreverent movie for adults or even young adults... It's just a made for tv waste of money.

I literally never write reviews on this site but felt compelled to after seeing how poorly this movie has been rated. It's far from great and after watching the trailer it was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be. Jack Black was pretty solid though I wouldn't say his best performance. The acting all around was good enough.

I'm guessing some angry Christians and the fairly sad plot line had some people unfairly give this an instant 0. It definitely has some laughs, and I thought was decently written. In reality it should be about a 6.5 on this site imo. I'm throwing it a 10 to help out.

I mean, it's not winning any awards, but the movie is pretty adorably silly. The laughs are consistent enough, and Jack Black as Satan with a heart of bronze is inspired, if not on the nose, casting.

The rest of the cast knows exactly what kind of film they're in, and all of them are having a good time being in a Farrelly brothers flick. Think more along the lines of a Shallow Hal, which also stared Jack Black, in terms of tone and cadence of jokes.

Some pacing issues towards the end aside, Dear Santa does not over stay it's welcome. It's a goofy Christmas movie for anyone who doesn't take the holiday too seriously.

I'm so confused about this film - is it a comedy? Tragedy? Horror? Is it a Christmas movie? Was it made for kids? Adults? Tweens? Nothing about this makes an ounce of sense.

One thing that is definitely not confusing; This movie is atrocious.

Clearly written purely as a Jack Black vehicle, he's hardly even in it and is simultaneously hamming it up and phoning it in. By no means his worst performance, but zero effort applied. The rest of the cast might as well immediately retire because their acting is some of the worst I've ever seen in a production of this kind. Keegan-Michael Key is the only person to come out of this with any credibility intact.

There are approximately 5 minor laugh moments in this film. One of them is because the scene is so bizarre and awkward you'll question what you just watched - The main kid's parents kidnap him from a carnival and literally bundle him into the back of their car off to a hospital for a brain examination. What? If you ever wondered what terrible parents are like, boom. There you are.

The ending is so ridiculous, cheap and grotesque I turned to my partner and said "what the hell did I just watch? That movie was terrible". I actually apologised to my TV for allowing this travesty to be shown on it's screen.

1hr and 45 minutes of my life I will never get back, on a Saturday night too. Infuriating.

Think Adam sandler and little Nicky when you think about Satan as I know religious groups aren't best pleased but it's just a bit of fun. Great acting the two main kids are brilliant. Jack Black is perfect for this role and with all together it was worth watching. Both sad and funny moments.

The story is a little bit all over the place at times and there is a part that you are trying to work out as to why the family had to move. When you do find out it's pretty upsetting. It does feel like an important of school Adam Sandler film without Adam sandler anywhere near it. Great to see Post Malone cameo which was my favourite part.

I was looking forward to and really wanted to like this movie, but the trailer was the best thing about it. I feel like the realized they had a flop and decided to try and made a misleadingly good trailer to sell it.

I mean i really don't know what they were going for, but it's easily the least Christmas feeling holiday movie i've ever seen but not in the ways you would expect.

Bad acting, unlikable characters, and if you were hoping for a Little Nicky type of thing please look elsewhere, Jack Black was easily the best part about this movie but its not his best work and not enough to make up for every other imaginable shortcoming of this movie.

Very cute movie. You know there's gonna be people who are against this movie saying it's a devil movie, ruining Christmas... yadda yadda yadda. But it's NOT! I can't tell you how many times when I was a child and misspelled Santa. It's a fun movie to watch. I love Jack Black. Him and the kids make this movie. The rest of cast makes the film enjoyable as well.

Don't let the religious people ruin the movie cause they can't have fun at an error in spelling. I recommend this movie. It is not at all going against Santa and religion.

A few swear words here and there but they are numerous in nature.

This movie convinced me to create an account just to write a review, and unfortunately, it's not a positive one. I was genuinely excited about this film and had high hopes, especially with a big name like Jack Black involved. But after watching, I'm completely baffled as to how he signed on to this project. The acting is so terrible that it makes low-budget Hallmark movies seem like masterpieces. The performances are awkward, cringeworthy, and downright painful to sit through. The cast felt completely mismatched, and the dialogue was flat and unconvincing. It was so bad I couldn't even finish it. What a massive disappointment!