- Directed by Bobby Farrelly
- November 25, 2024
- Paramount+
A 6th grader writes a Christmas letter to Santa Claus to help with his problems only for his misspelling to lead to him meeting Satan who helps him out instead.
I hadn’t heard much positive about Dear Santa. After watching I can certainly agree with some if not most of those comments. I am left feeling this movie is what gets made when those involved are not where they once were on the celebrity hierarchy. Bobby and Peter Farrelly, Ben Stiller (who cameos), and Jack Black are not the names they once were with this feeling like a desperate attempt to emulate previous successes without understanding why those instances were successful.
It includes such seasonal elements as bullied children and parents on the verge of divorce. Their son is clearly traumatized by their marriage falling apart even though they are poorly hiding it. How are they surprised this kid has issues? A few scenes show him trying to diffuse the situation. It would certainly explain when this 6th grader still believes in Santa and has a Christmas fixation. He retreats into a fantasy world rather than deal with reality! Ho! Ho! Ho!
The main character is a completely clueless kid named Liam Turner (Robert Timothy Smith) with dyslexia that does the comedically obvious misspelling of Santa when mailing his letter causing it to wind up in the hands of Satan (Jack Black). Learning disability or not, Liam seems a little too stupid to live. He is not Frank Drebin dumb but pathetically sad dumb. You pity the character and maybe feel uncomfortable when his stupidity arrises. Liam has a best friend named Gibby (Jaden Carson Baker). Was this some weird corporate synergy episode since Paramount owns Nickelodeon which aired iCarly? Anywho…
As Satan Jack Black is Jack Black from any number of movies. The fat jerky slob. It’s a schtick he has played to great success in the past but not one that works all the time. Satan is only slightly smarter than the kid and that’s not saying much. With that I have described the totality of his character.
Rather than willingly enter into a contract with Satan, Liam stumbles into one and can’t get out. Not that he really tries. Cute idea that could be quite funny but fails as a concept because of the casting and the general execution. There was clearly no thought on how to get the kid out of his predicament leading to the weakest get-out-of-the-contract bit I have ever seen. It feels completely unearned and quite lazy.
We have Liam also wanting to get a girl though he’s really not with her at the end. Possibly losing his soul and the best he gets is a weak second chance. She’s a motivating factor for him trying to use the three provided wishes rather than the clear instability of his family life. The most immediate concern does not play into his thoughts until much later.
About 3/4 of the way through Dear Santa we learn that the parents’ problems stem from the death of their youngest child. It’s one of those things it’s just tossed in with no hint up until it is said even though it is REALLY important. Methinks they were looking to have a little heart and that’s all they could come up with. After Liam does not lose his soul Satan resurrects the dead brother and wipes everybody’s memories of the death. Why? Because he was not really the Devil and was fired by THE ACTUAL Devil because he bungled the whole thing.
So a job loss makes him good? This makes less sense than the immortality bit from Fred Claus. Good and evil as jobs rather than dispositions is problematic. I can understand parting with an understanding or as friends but he is good for reasons.
Perhaps the biggest casting news of all of this besides Jack Black was that of Post Malone as himself. His appearance ties into the relationship between Liam and the girl. Satan uses a spell to make him Liam’s best friend and all that. It’s just forced. There are no lessons learned in this film. No changes earned. It just ticks the boxes until it has its bad ending then the credits roll on something that’s meant to be funny. This is a movie that manages to do NOTHING well.
Dear Santa has the beginnings of an interesting Christmas movie but never really gets there. It’s a bad script and no real laughs. Save yourself some trouble and don’t watch.
Warren Watched A Movie 