Ed's Review Dot Com

Leslie Nielsen, Steven Eckholdt, Robyn Lively, Tommy Davidson, Darren Frost, Karen LeBlanc, R.D. Reid, Ted Atherton

Leslie Nielsen is the lovable Santa Claus who is really depressed that the level of Christmas spirit is so low. No one says Thank You anymore, and everybody is so commercial. Santa decides to take a trip to the city to see what he can do about it, and gets into some really bad weather and falls from the sleigh right in front of a car driven by Peter Albright, a newsman who is playing Santa to get some good footage for the news. Santa has amnesia and forgot who he is, so they put him to work in a department store. Will Santa remember in time for Christmas Eve?

Kristen Dalton, Robert Molooney, Garry Chalk, Tom Heaton, Donna White, Michael Kopsa, Jane Sowerby, Ellie Harvie, Rob Bruner, Mackenzie Gray, Gary Jones, Jay Brazeau

Lou Boyd (Robert Moloney) works for Crouch (Garry Chalk) the owner of “The Great American Store” which according to Crouch’s hype can be seen from outer space. Lou somehow double ordered Christmas lights and is about to be fired when he comes up with an idea to save his hide. The Great American Store is holding a Christmas Decorating Contest, and the winner will win an hour of free shopping where they can keep everything they can pile into a shopping cart. Crouch’s daughter, Dianne (Kristen Dalton), is planning on taking over the business when her dad retires. She’s overly aggressive and comes up with the idea that Lou will have the best decorations because she will handle the planning and designing, and then he will donate his “winnings” to charity. That way they can rig the contest so that they don’t lose a ton of free merchandise. Then there are the competitors, a Jewish family who want to enter, and a French guy who is overly competitive. Lou’s going to have to really pull it off to win the contest, but his parents are against him, as they usually use family heirlooms to decorate their house (where Lou lives with them), and they don’t like all the commotion. The night of the big contest finale arrives, and either Lou wins, or the store is in big, big trouble.

This is a really cute, and very funny movie in the vein of “Deck the Halls” and “Battle of the Bulbs“. These folks go way over the top in competing for a prize that sort of backfires on everybody, including Crouch’s store who is liable for much, much more than they sold to get rid of the extra bulbs. The actors are quite decent, though there aren’t any really big names, they certainly play the parts well. The battle of the lights is truly funny. The competition is hysterical as each one tries to outdo the other in their own style. Arguing like 5 year olds really brings it all back. Then in a very poignant ending, the show us the lesson of the film in a very stunning way.

Richard Thomas, Beau Bridges, Maria Pitillo, Jan Rubes, John Franklin, Debbie Lee Charrington, Taylor Anne Reid, Meghan Black, James Kirk, Brarbara Tyson, Ken Bogue

When professor Jerry McNeil (Richard Thomas) was a small boy, he fell from atop a large pine tree way out in the forest. He was caught and saved by a flying reindeer. Jerry is certain that it’s scientifically possible for a reindeer to fly due to certain physical characteristics. He’s writing a paper on the flying squirrel, but inside, he’s still very interested in reindeer. When he is given a book written hundreds of years ago by a scientist who studied reindeer flight, he becomes obsessed with proving the scientific fact. He heads off for northern Canada, and sure enough finds a flying reindeer, but also crashes his plane at the North Pole. There he meets the writer of his book, as well as the Jolly Old Elf himself, Santa (Beau Bridges). He has the proof he needs, but the one rule is that no one is allowed to ever leave the North Pole or the secret will be out.

This movie ought to be awful. Imagine a film with John Boy about flying reindeer! But actually it’s not too bad. It takes a scientific approach, and dwells, not so much on the Santa and reindeer, but more on the value of family, faith, and belief. When Jerry finds out there is no way to go home, he finally realizes how much he does need his family. Meanwhile, the families efforts to locate him and find him show them how important Dad is to the rest of the family. It’s a fine story, much better than you would ever expect.