He swears he’s not an elf ……
Title: Get Santa
Certificate: U
Director: Christopher Smith
Major Players: Jim Broadbent, Rafe Spall, Warwick Davis
Out Of Five: 3
This year’s festive movies got off to the worst possible start – and I promise that’s the last time I’m going to mention the travesty that was Nativity 3 – so I was more than a little concerned at the prospect of Get Santa. Were all this year’s British seasonal films going to be duds?
Breathe a sigh of relief, because the answer is no. Not that Get Santa reaches any great creative heights, but it does manage to be a competent piece of warm hearted family entertainment with a smile on its face.
Young Tom (Kit Connor) discovers Father Christmas (Jim Broadbent) in the garden shed: his sleigh has crashed and he’s lost his reindeer. He tells his dad, Steve (Rafe Spall) who’s separated from Tom’s mother, just out of jail and more than a little sceptical about the existence of Santa in the first place. And when the bearded one is arrested trying to re-claim his reindeer from Battersea Dogs And Cats Home, it sends father and son on a journey to get him out of prison and back into the sky so that Christmas can happen.
Yes, OK, the whole Christmas in danger of being cancelled thing has been done before, but it doesn’t really matter that much. This is a piece of family entertainment with some genuinely funny moments, a well-chosen cast and enough to keep both adults and children amused and interested. There’s nothing especially original about it but sometimes at Christmas you want tradition and this has this by the sled load, with a contemporary twist on top instead of a fairy.
The children, for instance, will be more than happy with the savvy little hero, flatulent reindeer and the way all the letters to Santa are magnetically attracted to the man himself. Plus there’s also the on-going question as to Santa’s existence. And for the adults, there are plenty of references to other films. ET comes to mind when Santa and his reindeer fly across the moon, The Shawshank Redemption is behind the escape tunnel concealed by a poster and there’s even a variation on the most famous line from Braveheart.
But back to that ET lookalike scene for a moment. Once Santa has disappeared, the moon changes itself into a clock face and that was when I realised what was missing. The moment reminded me of T S Spivet and what Get Santa needs is the sheer magic that made Spivet so special. It does try, but the special effects look as though they were done on a budget – the flying reindeer are especially obvious – and slightly older children will probably spot that. Let’s face it, they’re used to something much more cutting edge. Santa’s sleigh contains green magic powder that helps it to fly: a large sprinkle of that over the film could have taken it to another level.
There’s some nice performances. Hidden underneath the white beard and hair – and some spectacular eyebrows – is Jim Broadbent, as a very twinkly Santa. And what the prison barber (Steven Graham) does with his hair and beard while he’s in the clink is worth the price of the ticket alone! Rafe Spall is suitably sceptical as Tom’s father, but I wish there had been more of Warwick Davis who, despite what you might think from the posters and trailer, isn’t an elf at all. His trademark dry humour is there, just not enough of it.
Santa and crew come into land in cinemas on 5 December – a bit early, you might think, for Christmas, but the new Hobbit movie comes out the following Friday. As it is, Get Santa still has to contend with The Penguins of Madagascar on the same day. Hopefully the blockbusters won’t prevent families from enjoying an hour and a half of something more traditional – even if it does need that sprinkle of magic dust.
Get Santa opens around the UK on Friday, 5 December.
Talking Pictures 