Review of The Santa Clause (1994) by Andri K — 31 Dec 2018
A fun movie that is not great.
The Santa Clause (1994) brings Tim Allen new levels of fame as the sarcastic nonbeliever in Santa Claus. Allen is funny and the movie is very sweet, but it is such a mess.
The slow pacing, odd adult humor, and childish tone keeps me from loving this movie. It's great for the holidays as all the practical effects and sets are very charming.
Unfortunately, the CGI is terrible and amateur. The writing is straightforward, but comes across as a depressing look at adults taking themselves too seriously.
Tim Allen is the real draw as the incompetent father trying to win over his son, but the rest of the cast is all over the place. Judge Reinhold is such a dull killjoy that he feels too fake. Wendy Crewson is so awkward and forced at being the overprotective mother and the overly nagging ex-wife. I never liked her in this role.
Eric Lloyd is both adorable as Charlie and annoying as he whines so much, it nearly ruins the movie. David Krumholtz is great as Bernard the elf at least. His dour serious take on the head elf character is pretty fun.
In short, The Santa Clause is a humorous, yet tedious family Christmas movie. It will never be one of my favorite films, but it can be enjoyable at times.
This review of The Santa Clause (1994) was written by Andri K on 31 Dec 2018.
The Santa Clause has generally received positive reviews.
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