Hallmark Entertainment, Mr. St. Nick Inc.
Kelsey Grammer, Charles Durning, Katherine Helmond, Brian Bedford, Elaine Hendrix, Ana Ortiz, Luis Garcia, Lupe Ontiveros, Brian Miranda, Wallace Shawn
I’m not a big fan of this film. It was probably fresher in 2002, but now it’s kind of corny. Kelsey Grammer is Nick St. Nicholas, and Charles Durning is his father, His Majesty Santa Claus XX. Well the old man is ready to turn the scepter over to Nick Jr. but he’s not ready. He needs to find a Mrs. Claus and cut out the Miami playboy life and grow up and get busy in the family business. But he’s obviously not ready and Mr. Claus doesn’t seem to be ready to give it up yet, even though he’s not really up to it anymore. (Now maybe he could have just slipped off someone’s roof an conned them into taking over, but that is a different movie).
So Nick Jr. gets a new housekeeper/personal assistant who is really just looking for a green card. He also gets taking in by some big time scammers in a fake charity and almost blows his chances with Dad.
So, all in all, I feel Kelsey is annoying and doesn’t seem the character. Durning is a great Santa, Katherine Helmond has always rubbed me the wrong way in any of her roles, most notably in Soap and Who’s the Boss (Mona!). The best characters in this film, aside from Santa himself, are the scammers. There just isn’t much heart in this film, and it’s one of the least of my holiday favorites by far. This would be on my skip list (unless you’re nursing that broken leg and have nothing better to do! 🙂
