Film review (an adult’s perspective): Get Santa

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Published on Monday, 24 November 2014 11:30

Last Updated on 28 November 2014

Freda Cooper

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Before I take a look at Get Santa, a warm welcome to Chiara, my fellow film partner in crime.  I hope you enjoyed her review of the film and that mine lives up to her standard.

It has to be said that this year’s seasonal films didn’t get off to the best of starts with Nativity 3 – and that’s the last time I’m going to mention that particular travesty.  So, is Get Santa any better?

Breathe easy.  It is.

 

 

The Story

 

In case you’ve not read Chiara’s review, the plot goes like this.  Young Tom (Kit Connor) discovers Father Christmas (Jim Broadbent) in the garden shed: his sled has crashed and he’s lost his reindeer.  He tells his dad, Steve (Rafe Spall) who’s separated from Tom’s mother, just out of jail and more than a little sceptical about the existence of Santa in the first place.  And when the bearded one is arrested trying to re-claim his reindeer from Battersea Dogs And Cats Home, it sends father and son on a journey to get him out of prison and back into the sky so that Christmas can happen.

 

The Trailer

 

 

The Verdict

 

Now, we’ve all heard the “Christmas being cancelled” storyline before, but in this instance it doesn’t really matter too much.  Get Santa is a piece of warm hearted family entertainment with some genuinely funny moments – certainly enough to keep adults and children alike interested and entertained.   And, given all the references to other movies, grown-ups will most certainly be playing Spot The Film.  ET comes to mind when Santa and his reindeer fly across the moon, there’s a re-working of Braveheart’s most famous line and the escape tunnel hidden behind a poster takes us back to ……. well, you get the picture.

The well-chosen cast deliver nice performances.  Hidden underneath the white beard and hair is Jim Broadbent, as a very twinkly Santa.  And what the prison barber (Steven Graham) does with his hair and beard while he’s in the clink is worth the price of the ticket alone!  Rafe Spall is suitably sceptical as Tom’s father, but we could have done with more of Warwick Davis.  Despite what you might assume from the posters and trailer, he isn’t an elf at all and, although his trademark dry humour is there, there’s simply not enough of it.

 

 

Mums’ rating:  6/10    Christmas is a time for tradition and Get Santa has it by the sled load, with a nice contemporary twist on top instead of a fairy.  Don’t expect anything especially surprising or original.  Just go along and enjoy an hour and a half of comfortable family entertainment that will give everybody a nice, fuzzy glow.

And just hope that you don’t find yourself behind bars – unlike Santa, myself and London Mums’ Editor, Monica Costa ……..!

 

 

Get Santa is released nationwide on Friday, 5 December.

Check London Mums’ exclusive interviews with the Cast and the director!