Thanksgiving is over so that means that an abundance of Christmas movies are now easily available through various streaming services.
Now keep in mind, I’m not opposed to Christmas or Holiday movies per se, and I’m always eager to jump into the “Is Die Hard and Lethal Weapon Christmas movies or not” debate (they are), but some family themed Christmas movie story lines have been beaten to death.
I long for the timeless classics like “A Christmas Story”, a story any American boy can relate too, that strong desire to get that special Christmas gift but mom is opposed to it ‘because you’ll shoot your eyes out’, which can be translated to ‘I said no because it’s way too dangerous’ which mom’s have been telling boys since the dawn of time.
Miracle on 34th Street, another classic where a crazy old man convinces a little girl and her mother that maybe… just maybe… that Santa is real.
It Happened on 5th Avenue, where a homeless waif breaks into a rich mans home every winter when the owner goes to Florida and the zany antics that ensues.
I could go on, but I hope you get the idea I’m trying to portray, that Christmas stories come out every winter and it takes a special one that hits a home run. The Christmas Chronicles has hit that home run.
No doubt that part of that is due to Kurt Russell’s portrayal of Santa Clause which does portray him mildly differently than other portrayals on the screen (I don’t ‘Ho Ho Ho’, it’s fake news, or even the mild jabs at how St. Nick has been commercialized by a popular soft drink company with is image on the cans that will be hitting the shelves across the nation, if they haven’t already). But with all of the things that separates this Santa from other popular portrayals, they still manage to remain true to what everyone knows, or thinks they know, about the jolly old elf.
At the risk of some spoilers, this won’t be the first time you see Santa chased by the Police late at night. This won’t be the first time that saving Christmas falls onto the shoulders of young children. This won’t be the first time that Elves will be called on with the anticipation that they will come riding in like the Calvary at the last moment, but it doesn’t come across as being quite as a worn out plot as it might in other movies. What this movie does offer is similar to what The Santa Clause offered when it first came out; a movie that is clearly designed to entertain kids but doing so without neglecting the adult audience watching with them.
