Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 12, 1994 TAG: 9411170031
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Skeptical viewers can dismiss it as just another piece of Hollywood manipulation - feel-good Disney fluff that ignores the real (i.e. religious) meaning of Christmas. But to most of the kids at one Friday matinee, it's a winning fantasy based on characters they love. At least one adult agrees with them.
The story begins on Christmas Eve with toy company executive and divorced dad Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) taking off late from the office party to meet his young son, Charlie (Eric Lloyd). Charlie would much rather be spending the holiday with his mother (Wendy Crewson) and new dad Neal (Judge Reinhold), but he knows the rules of visitation.
The night is a disaster, of course, until Charlie hears a noise on the roof. When Scott goes out to investigate, a man in a red suit falls from the top of his town house. According to a business card Scott finds in the man's pocket, he is indeed Santa Claus, residence North Pole. But Scott doesn't read the fine print and winds up sitting in for the jolly old elf.
Actually, in a legal sense, Scott may have accepted ``the duties and responsibilities of Santa Claus,'' and that's the heart of the film. What are Scott and his dad going to do?
Writers Leo Benvenuti and Steve Rudnick could have taken any of several directions from that premise. But they wisely chose to stick close to the four main characters and their conflicts. It's not easy for a kid to deal with two fathers, particularly when one's a bit of a jerk and nobody believes that the other one is real. They also seasoned their script with enough dry humor to entertain the parents of the target audience. The writing has been tailored to fit Allen's light comic touch, though the plot tends to lose focus in the middle.
First-time director John Pasquin also makes the most of his star's talent. Pasquin comes from television where he and Allen have worked on ``Home Improvement.'' In the big special effects scenes, Allen holds his own, though these are not up to the highest Spielbergian standards. And that's as it should be.
The effects should not be overpowering in a movie like this. Yes, it's solidly in the tradition of ``It's a Wonderful Life'' and ``Miracle on 34th St.,'' but a more a more useful comparison is Penny Marshall's ``Big.'' ``The Santa Clause`` works on the same emotions with many of the same results.
Without being too rough for a young audience, the film avoids the cloying sweetness that ruins so many Christmas films, and it doesn't try to wrap everything up with an unrealistic ``happily-ever-after`` ending. That's probably not enough for the bah-humbug set, but what Christmas story could be?
``The Santa Clause`` looks like the first hit of the season.
The Santa Clause ***
A Walt Disney release playing at the Valley View Mall 6 and Salem Valley 8. 95 min. Rated PG for some mild cussing.
by CNB