Finding Mrs. Claus

I have to admit that when I read the summary, I expected the formula Lifetime Channel Christmas movie.......meaning the movie seems like it lasts a lifetime. But, its a really fun movie to watch. The storyline moves along at a rapid clip. There are lots of side gags, prop gags, Santa and even married life jokes to keep you laughing. The actors all play their roles over-the-top and it somehow pulls everything together. And speaking of the cast, this is one of those movies where it was perfectly cast. There was a chemistry between the actors that enables their characters to play off of each other to give the movie a farcical aura. Had they used any other combination of actors, this movie would not have worked very well.

Its not a classic comedy like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation nor is it something you will likely watch more than a couple times. But, its an enjoyable way to spend a couple hours and a must see for this season's crop of Christmas movies.

This one no we only gets 3 stars for being set in Vegas. Even though it's shot in Vancouver/Burnaby/Surrey. The extra two stars are for the smoke show lead actress.

Mira Sorvino (best supporting actress Oscar winner) headlines this Christmas romantic comedy with more fantastical elements than Dear Santa (2011) with Amy Acker (Person of Interest and Angel). Sorvino performs as Mrs. Santa Claus who discovers a letter addressed to her and feeling neglected by Mr. Santa finds herself going to Las Vegas to grant a little girl's Christmas wish for a new father. This is a cute, but not flawless romantic comedy. The clownish elf seems more than off-putting at times as is the stereotypical casino bouncer. Somehow the movie holds itself together with the parallel storylines of Mr. And Mrs. Santa and finding romance for the single mother who works at a casino. All the loose ends manage to get tied up, but barely and there are cheesy scenes that almost derail the movie. But the script stays the course with some tender moments along with a decent but predictable ending that help the movie end up being an decent, if not great, movie to watch at Christmas time.

This is a clever story and definitely not the average Christmas rom/com. It includes the idea of a real Santa and Jessica Claus. Jessica gets a letter from a little girl wanting love for her mom. Jessica is feeling a little neglected by Kris so she decides a mission for Hope will do her some good. Mira Sorvino overplays the naïve Jessica a little. Will Sasso does a better job as Kris who is just as out of touch with the real world, but doesn't overplay it as much. Aislyn Watson does a good job as precocious and street wise Hope. Postables alum Geoff Gustafson leans toward the naughty side for an elf.

Laura Vandervoort and Andrew Walker are both among the better rom/com TV movie actors. They have good chemistry even if they split time fairly equally with Sasso and Sorvino. The dialogue is lively. The story is totally fresh and a little silly, but outcomes are totally predictable in a general sense.

Both Sorvino and Kristine Cofsky sport costumes which are a little more revealing than I normally expect in this kind of movie, but the exposure is brief and more implied than explicit. Personally it is out of my comfort range for children in my family, but many people will not bat an eye.

This is a fun movie and definitely rewatchable.

This is a Christmas rom-com that is really (no kidding, REALLY) funny. Lots of gags of various types going on here. The "Sleepless" reference is when adorable but Vegas-knowledgeable, precocious moppet Hope Jenkins (Aislyn Watson) writes a letter to Mr.s Claus (not Santa), asking not for toys and trinkets, but a new husband/daddy for heart-of-gold mom, a Las Vegas casino concierge. Mom (Laura Vandervoot) is a STUNNINGLY beautiful blue-eyed blonde, so it sorta / kinda stretches the imagination that she would be bereft of male suitors. Regardless, Mrs. Claus (Jessica, played by Mira Sorvino), irked by an overworked Santa (Will Sasso) who blows past their 500th anniversary. Extra comic relief is provided by elfin reindeer wrangler Calvin (Geoff Gustafson), all being kept on track by hilariously-frantic Executive Elf Anika.

So while Santa is sleeping through a romantic dinner, Jessica reads Hope's letter asking for a new Uncle Daddy, and ropes Calvin into dropping her off at 'Vegas. With a little "magic dust", Jessica becomes (presto) the actually gohjuhs, if bewilderingly naïve, Jessica Clausbuffet ("It's French"). Meanwhile, Santa is distraught that Mrs. Claus has left him, and coerces Calvin into telling him where he dropped her off. Accordingly, Calvin and Santa go off to 'Vegas, arriving incognito (albeit magically), conjuring literal fistfuls of cash to "grease the wheels" of the greedy scrooge-like casino manager.

Ok, it's predictable from the get-go when you have a long talking role from Lifetime regular Andrew Walker, who plays the cute bartender (Myles) who's a big friend of Moppet Hope. But hilarity ensues throughout the movie, with a frantic Executive Elf Anika urging haste and attention to the mission, and Calvin the reindeer wrangler working the tables, Jessica looking for Noelle (Mom), Santa looking for Jessica, Myles the bartender keeping "Security" away from Moppet Hope, and a greedy scrooge looking to milk as much dough as he could from the magical rubes and sending a hooker (Brandy) to keep the mark (Santa) happy.

Like an old Tex Avery cartoon with characters running in and out of various doors, things will suddenly explode in one swell foop. You know romance will be "found" for Mom, Moppet Hope is happy, Santa and Mrs. Claus will reconnect (with help from Elvis), Christmas is saved, toys are delivered, and even party girl Brandy and comic-relief Calvin will wrangle, too... but the interim byplay is the more funnerer part, with bodaciously-whimsical magic tossed in as well.