Listen, Kurt Russel is one of my favorite actors, and it was fun to see Lamorne Morris (New Girl), and Steven Van Zandt (The Sopranos) make an appearance. That's for sure. But, MAN, this writing was horrible. All I wanted the whole time was to turn off the movie and head over to "The Santa Clause," a MUCH better written film, written for the same audience.
The film was played to the typical stereotypes: rebellious teenage brother, sweet and determined little sister...rebellious brother turns full circle, everything better again at the end, little sister was right all along. Typical, right? Done right, this is a sweet story, when tried to hard, it kind of falls flat.
The CGI made elves were not a big help, the elvish language was too much...we aren't in Lord of The Rings, here. They tried too hard to make this film believable, quite honestly. Just stick to the basics, you know? Let the teenage boy (Teddy) be rebellious, but stealing cars with friends, leaving little sister home alone on Christmas eve, I mean, it seemed quite out of character for the kid. You don't get that look and feel from him and it felt quite out of place, as did the scene where he fails in taking the camera away from his little sister once he's realized he was caught. Put me as a teenage kid against one of my little sisters? Yea, I'd have that tape in 2 seconds if I wanted to. All I'm saying is outside of the "scene" where he steals a car, etc. you don't get the feel that he's a bad kid in any way...he seems more of an effeminate kind of guy trying to find his place in the world, to be honest. Not a tough criminal.
For the girl, Kate, well...come one, make her more like Charlie from the Santa Clause...frustrated for not being believed, still determined, but not a perfect angel. She wasn't exciting, you know? Despite being a fun and family film, you still want character development! Charlie grew in love toward others, at least, he learned that in life you didn't have to be cynical, everything about Santa was a huge "wow" moment for him, and for the audience. For Kate, everything was the same...everything was predictable. Even the things she discovered about Santa...you just weren't excited for her.
If you want a cute film to play in the background, sure, it's fine. But it's not one you'll be turning back to Christmas after Christmas. I want films to be believing, even if they are playing a fantasy. Taking the easy roads in writing isn't exciting. The story wasn't rounded very well at all.
