Failed experiment

Mel Gibson deserves a nod for giving it his all as a cynical, crusty Kris Kringle. Unfortunately it's in the service of a script that doesn't work at all -- a uneven genre mash of crime thriller and holiday comedy.

Less effective is the normally reliable Walton Goggins as the hitman hunting Kringle. There's not a hint of the evil but charismatic Boyd Crowder here which might have helped tbh. This seems to be mostly a paycheque role for him.

Any comedy here lands with a thud. For example, the movie keeps trying to make a thing of the fact that this hitman is attached to a pet gerbil. It's a lame running gag that wasn't funny to start and never gets any better.

Scenes of the hitman trying to track down Santa do little more than pad the movie. I was able to predict his MO long before we see it in the movie and I'm sure you could too.

Same with the scene where Seven dives deep into the biology of Santa's elves to explain their love of sweet things to eat. It's played so straight that any humour just runs through the cracks in the floor.

I didn't know what to make of the fact that Mrs. Claus is black with a British accent, and is referred to by Kringle as Ruth. Was there supposed to be some mysterious backstory to tease our interest? Or was it meant to be a nod to Gibson's notorious personal history? Who knows? Who cares?

The numerous absurdly high reviews on IMDB -- combined with generous helpings of hyperbole and exclamation marks -- made me laugh. Especially, the reviews that describe it as 'the new Die Hard' or Quentin Tarantino-esque. It's not even close to either of these two comparisons.

The only film maker that I can think of that MIGHT have made it work is Tim Burton back in the day.

This movie will definitely not be on my holiday must-see viewing list.