Get Santa
Director: David Cronenburg
Starring: Warwick Davis, Rafe Spall, Jim Broadben
102 mins; Class U;
KRS Releasing Ltd

After the mediocre effort that was Nativity 3: Dude Where’s my Donkey last week, it is a relief to report that the latest Christmas effort from British cinema manages to capture the seasonal Santa spiri.

A man attempts to bond with his young son after a stint in jail as they help Santa fly back to Lapland in time for Christmas Eve, thereby avoiding cancelling Christmas altogether.

While test-flying his new sleigh, Santa (Jim Broadbent) crash-lands in London and is arrested by the police who obviously don’t believe he is who he says he is. Santa enlists the help of nine-year-old Tom (Kit Connor) who persuades his sceptical dad Steve (Rafe Spall) to help send Santa back.

Get Santa is a good old-fashioned Christmas movie, with at the story’s centre a jocular Santa; some touching family scenes; a gang of tough-looking but good-hearted prison inmates; hapless cops; and just the right touch of Christmas magic.

The humour is genuine and the sentiments real

Writer/director Christopher Smith keeps the story relatively simple and straightforward in the opening scenes, leaving some magical moments for the end when Steve and Tom finally figure out how to help Santa, enveloping the whole with a warm and fuzzy festive feeling.

It is still thoroughly enjoyable up to that moment however, with some very funny moments courtesy of Santa as he tries to act tough in prison in order to keep his identity a secret with little success.

There is genuine chemistry between Spall as Steve, a man trying to go on the straight and narrow and Connor as his son. It is a pity, therefore, that in what feels like an attempt to appeal to the baser elements of the audience, at points we have to endure unnecessary jokes. But, for the most part the humour is genuine and the sentiments real.

Broadbent is of course the perfect Santa, his large frame, his natural round ruddy face and twinkling blue eyes fitting snugly and suitably into the softest white beard ever.

His deep tones perfectly enunciate the ‘ho ho ho’ which often characterises his speech and it is redundant to say that this great British character actor adds moment of sincere pathos as he reminds the many cynical adults he encounters of the magic of Christmas.

There is something almost Spielberg-like in its execution and while Get Santa doesn’t quite reach those lofty heights, it is a warm-hearted, good natured movie that will perfectly while away a couple of hours during the Christmas season.

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