Santa's Little Helper

BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY REVIEWED ONE FILM & GIVE IT A RAVE. THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 Christmas MOVIES. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I JUST ENJOY Christmas FILMS.

This film is strictly for children. It is however a mess of a film if your over 12. Some of the sets are very pretty but the acting is terrible. The lead should of been someone else. However there is a few male camel-toe shots that me think the director new how campy this film was and want to give some audience members some cheese

Now in this film Dax (Mike "The Miz" Mizanin), a recently fired businessman, is thrown into a competition to become Santa's second in command. Put into a series of training exercises, Dax and another aspiring elf have to go head-to-head to win the job

In general its films like this that give family films a bad name.

Dax (Mike The Miz Mizcanin) is a hotshot banking associate with a seeming cold heart. He has just delivered bad news to a children's home; WE ARE SHUTTING YOU DOWN! But, no sooner does he get back to the office but he gets his own terrible message. You're fired, Dax. He goes home in a daze, where his lovely girlfriend packs her bags at the news. Yet, someone has been observing Dax from afar. Its Santa Claus and, up in the North Pole, he is making plans. His main elf lady, Billie (AnnaLynne McCord), who is a freak with normal ears, is astonished to hear that he wants her to visit earth, offer Dax a job from a secret employer and get him to go through a series of tests for the job. But, she does it. Once there, Dax loves her beautiful looks and sweet manner and agrees to do the trail so he can land a good job. But, what kind of tests involve apologizing to tough bikers in a bar and being a monkey mascot for a kids' party business? This cute, pleasant movie is a romcom which will delight the genre's many fans. The main actors are very attractive and the costumes, sets, and funny script will charm most everyone. Need a little help in the cheering-up department? Choose this helper!

I suppose everyone deserves a chance at redemption - but, boy howdy, protagonist Dax is so immediately and thoroughly unlikable that I'd rather Krampus just took him away right off the bat and let us be done with it. (Further demerit for being a major stain on the name of one of my beloved cats.) Adjoin that redemption arc to themes of utmost capitalist criminality, greed, and malfeasance, and variations on story ideas made popular with older popular Christmas movies, and we have all the exposition we need as 'Santa's little helper' begins, and indeed as the plot proceeds.

The element of romance that's introduced is less than credible and wholly contrived - an unfortunate blemish given what is broadly a fairly solid screenplay. However, otherwise the narrative is reasonably strong and mildly compelling, if vaguely familiar, just as scene writing is built on increasing touches of engaging heart and comedy as the story progresses - thankfully far outweighing the unabashed cruelty that initially greets us. Though dialogue is inconsistent, there's some cleverness and earnestness peppered throughout. In a like fashion, 'Santa's little helper' is a bit uneven generally: early scenes are overbearing, and the second act to no small extent seems to work overtime to try to make up for a dubious first impression. Gratifyingly, the third act is pretty robust - successfully counterbalancing previous deficiencies, and building to a strong finish.

The cast is quite good, each actor inhabiting their respective roles with spirit and personality. Among the supporting cast, that includes Saraya Jade-Bevis as hard-nosed, competitive Eleanor; Eric Keenleyside as Santa, smart and playfully whimsical; and Kathryn Kirkpatrick, warm and convivial as Mrs. Claus. All due credit to star Michael Mizanin as Dax - not the best of all performances, rather lacking nuance that would make the redemption arc feel more believable, but nonetheless ably rolling with the shifting attitudes and demands of the character. Still, though ostensibly only second fiddle, I think that among the assembled actors it's AnnaLynne McCord who actually does the most to boost 'Santa's little helper.' She brings notable range and strength of personality to her part as cheerful, resolute Billie, and lights up the screen with each scene in which she appears. Hats off to the casting director - McCord leans into the cheese, and her involvement is a boon for the feature.

True, elements of the plot can certainly be chalked up to movie magic, working only because sturdy suspension of belief allows them to. As protagonist Dax's part in the story is contested by Eleanor, setting them at odds, it's a little regrettable that Mizanin and Jade-Bevis aren't given more opportunity to play off one another - in those scenes that allow them to do so, we see potential that wasn't truly pursued. And in a wider sense, again, quality and engagement fluctuates throughout the runtime, as some passing moments of the film are written or executed better than others. None of this is to say that 'Santa's little helper' is bad - by no means do I think it is - but it's far from perfect.

For a lot of reasons, ham-handedness most of all, this isn't going to be for everyone. I even kind of think that there's enough of an adult sensibility to the lead character, and to some of the scenes along the way, that the title is a hard "PG" stopping just shy of deserving a "PG-13" rating. Even viewers receptive to the camp of holiday-themed features will likely be divided here. Yet for any flaws or indelicacies that do trouble the movie, more so than not it's suitably entertaining, and done well enough in all various aspects to be modestly worthwhile. One needn't go out of their way to watch it, but if you're open to the type of film 'Santa's little helper' represents, then it's a decent way to spend 90 minutes.

Not bad!

Again, the WWE thinks they can write movies, and they think their wrestlers can act. Wrong! This story is a lot like A Christmas Carol meets It's A Wonderful Life. The Miz is not a horrible actor, but he is too full of himself to be taken seriously as an actor. Saraya-Jade Bevis (known as Paige in the credits and in the ring) is actually very good in this, and in my opinion, is the reason the movie is even watchable. Miz's real life wife Maryse also appears in this movie as Melody, the bartender. I said it before, but WWE needs to stop with movies and stick with wrestling (which they are barely passing muster as well). The movie is cute and the younger fans of Miz and Paige will enjoy it. This would be a good movie for the kids to watch while the grown ups are fixing the Holiday meals. Put this in their stocking, but older kids may think it's so-so, but give it a chance.

There are a lot of negatives you could bring up about this movie; it's cheesy, the acting and plot are questionable, it drags in the middle, and the humour is way too basic. However it does qualify as a reasonably good Christmas movie and since that is what it is supposed to be then you can generally ignore most of those points.

There is a little something for everyone and it is certainly a tale about heavy-handed morals centred around the season of giving. Yes, you could watch Die Hard at Christmas if you are a twenty-something hipster with no children like me, but if you have a family and 'traditional values', then this is a pretty fun watch for kids and grown ups alike. The only thing that might put some people off is the small amount of male-female violence that is present, as well as the assertion that men and women should be treated equally both physically and mentally. Personally I think that makes this film stand out, but it might offend some others (although a lot of the positive steps the film takes in this area is undercut by the lead female character being so taken aback by the main's insistence that she is pretty, because you know, that is all women want out of life.)

Overall this is just a fun Christmas movie that can be enjoyed by families and wrestling fans, and if you are both then you will probably love it. If you are neither then it has some kitsch value but nothing too great, just watch and enjoy as some holiday filler.