Based on the production, Netflix has high hopes for The Christmas Chronicles. I’m pretty sure #SexySanta will trend on social media with Kurt Russell playing the big guy, and the story is going big on setpieces surrounded by schmaltz. Sounds good right? While there are dalliances toward something special, The Christmas Chronicles storytelling is too jammed with schmaltz to leave a “hot cocoa on a cold day” feeling that it is going for.
Kurt Russell’s Santa is doing his job through Massachusetts when he gets caught in the act by 2 kids: Teddy (Judah Lewis) and Kate (#). Taking Santa by surprise, the two inadvertently cause the sleigh to crash somewhere near Chicago, causing Santa to lose his hat, his bag of toys, and his reindeer. Teddy and Kate volunteer to help him get his equipment back, so other kids can get the Christmas they deserve.
The CGI budget for The Christmas Chronicles is beyond a normal Christmas movie, meaning Netflix thinks this one is special. The extra special effects budget is at least put to good use. There’s some fun car chases, lots of beautiful cloud filled sleigh riding. World building and rule set up is the best part of watching The Christmas Chronicles, with some cool twists on the present delivery formula we are used to seeing. Everything around Santa seems to be enchanted, making it fun for Kurt Russell to constantly hold center court in every scene, wowing everyone with his presence and his sleights of hand. My favorite source of wonder is the explanation of neverending presents. Kate enters the bag and is transported into a time vortex where she finds an instant connection between the bag and the North Pole. The North Pole is also quite a revelation, resembling a great looking library with modernized storage for video letters to Santa as well as old school letters as well, surrounded by the elves workshop. Kudos to someone who put some thought into the elves by the way, making them tiny little CGI creations who speak a different language (they’re up by the North Pole, gotta think they wouldn’t exactly have lots of English visitors up there…). The joys of The Christmas Chronicles distract you, in a good way, from the story you’re watching.
For all the technical shine The Christmas Chronicles possesses, I wish the story weren’t so muddled for a Christmas film. I don’t need Inception level plotting here, but I want something with a simple, sweet message that kids will understand. The beginning is solid and sad enough, we see Teddy and Kate with their loving parents (Oliver Hudson and Kimberly Williams-Paisley) over home videos decrease from a family of 4 to a family of 3 (dad passes away). Kate is your standard Christmas kid, just lovely in spite of all the sadness around her. Teddy is clearly the one suffering the most from his dad passing away, becoming a bad kid. However, instead of just simple stuff like being mean to Kate, Teddy steals cars and drinks despite clearly being 15ish. Yikes, that’s some serious stuff for a family film. I think the movie does this to justify why Teddy knows how to drive during the car chase scene, but that makes it even worse, because Santa condones STEALING A CAR TO GET AWAY!!!! Now, I would have welcomed a more adult message of “bending the rules” from Santa if it were something, you know, that isn’t a felony. There’s so much magic going on with the sleigh anyway, just use some simple magic to get out of the situation, and then pass on a gentler message. Oh well, I guess Santa was in a hurry.
The Christmas Chronicles is a lump of coal wrapped in a pretty box. It looks the part and acts the part, but doesn’t deserve the part. My biggest sin: claiming Chicago’s skyline but clearly not using the city. Come on Santa! Chicago’s streets have been the settings of some of the great chases of all time! And it’s clear you were given the budget to do some cool things. I’ll promise to be better next year if you use my city.