Two
kids (Judah Lewis and Darby Camp) left alone on Christmas Eve stay up late and
try to film Santa Claus (Kurt Russell) with their old camcorder. They stow away aboard his sleigh and cause
Santa to wreck in the mean streets of Chicago.
To save Christmas, the kids have to help Santa find his reindeer, the
sack full of toys, and magic hat.
The
Christmas Chronicles is perfectly harmless family yuletide entertainment. If it wasn’t for Kurt Russell playing Santa,
I doubt I would’ve even seen it. He
brings his usual swagger and bravado to the role and does a fine job erasing
the traditional Santa stereotypes. He’s
physically fit, has a penchant for mischief, and sings a mean rendition of
“Santa Claus is Back in Town”. It’s fun
seeing Kurt channeling Elvis once again as he leads a jailhouse combo
(including Stevie Van Zandt) in what is far and away the best scene in the
movie.
If
only the rest of The Christmas Chronicles had that same spirit. Much of the drama with the bickering siblings
is your usual Hallmark Channel-style fluff.
(At least the child actors don’t grate on your nerves too bad.) Some of the subplots (like the kids’ run-in
with some thieves) are superfluous. I
could’ve also done without the CGI elves, who look like garden gnomes and act
like those annoying Minions. The
identity of Mrs. Claus (which I wouldn’t dream of revealing) is pretty great
though.
Kids
are sure to enjoy The Christmas Chronicles.
Grandparents too. People that
fall somewhere in the middle (like me) may feel a tad underwhelmed. Still, there’s enough good-naturedness here
to make it an OK Christmas flick.
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