Le Miracle de Noël

Being from the area I enjoyed seeing some familiar spots. I enjoyed it as much as any of the Hallmark movies I love.

This is a charming TV movie. First off, Paul Hopper (Santa) is perfect in the role. I don't know why we haven't seen more of him. Mark Boyd superbly plays a down and out former real estate agent Raynor who makes of with the Baby Jesus from the church so he can spend Christmas in a warm cell instead of out in the cold. Sheriff Rick Langston is the Grinch of the story as his ex-wife is not letting him come over for Christmas to see his daughter. The Sheriff goes home to find a man claiming to be Santa making a sandwich in his house and arrests him. The story that unfolds is more about the belief in goodness and love and not shutting yourself off from the magic in life. There is, of course, a budding romance and everyone in the end get what they really want (and need).

Honestly, I don't know why this film has such a low rating (just 3.9 as I'm writing this). I mean, sure, it's obviously an ultra-low budget film, but it's adorable! A very sweet film. Dean Cain is, of course, fantastic as the lead character. I assume he did this on a volunteer basis (maybe as a favor to a friend?), because I'm pretty sure his salary alone would've been more than this film's entire budget. Santa and the town drunk are also wonderful. The only 2 REAL faults I can find are some overacting on the part of some of the female roles, and I'm not quite sure what the point of Tom's drunk mother-in-law was. She's just generally very bratty, not adding comedic value, and doesn't really seem to have a purpose in the plot, either.

Part of me really wanted to like 'Small Town Santa'. Despite the low rating and that it did not look great, because Christmas is my favourite holiday and Dean Cain is a very watchable actor deserving of far better projects to star/feature in it was still seen anyway. Part of me really wanted to join the more positive reviews here, and have been known to have contrarian opinions in the past so watched it with an open mind aiming to know what to expect.

Even when really trying to not take things seriously and trying to take it for what it is, 'Small Town Santa' has a few redeeming qualities but overall it didn't work for me. Do have to agree with those that are more critical of the film. 'Small Town Santa' is not one of the worst Christmas films in existence, many others are far worse. Many other Christmas films though are far better and if looking for a festive classic to me this is not one of them.

'Small Town Santa' isn't a complete loss. Cain, despite bad dialogue and a stock character, brings a good deal of amiable charm and doesn't overdo or mail in (unlike the rest of the cast). Some of the scenery is attractive enough.

There are some nice nostalgic moments on the soundtrack.

Unfortunately, there is so much that works against 'Small Town Santa'. When it comes to the acting, only Cain is tolerable. Everybody else overacts to an unintentionally campy degree, with the worst offender being Janet Caine. None of the characters feel like real people or are likeable (yes even Santa), instead they were one-dimensional caricatures and ones that had not much personality or were annoying. The character of Diane especially for me was insufferably irritating. There really was not that much of a script and all the dialogue sounds like bad corny improvisation.

Low budget is evident in the visuals as there was a very rushed look throughout, especially in the flat and quite haphazard photography. The story is also thin as near melted ice and has no real charm or heart, just non-stop cheesiness, excessive schmaltz, convenient contrivances and a dreary pace. There could have been a chance to slightly overlook the predictability but the other story problems are far less easy to forgive. The odd pleasant moment aside, the music generally is forgettable at best.

In summary, very weak. 3/10

This is no Hallmark movie, thank goodness. Some of the lines in the movie are "insider joke" references. Such as the poster that says "real heroes don't wear capes" which I believe is relating to Dean Cain's years as superman in Lois & Clark. I liked that it is not heavily into the romance side of things. A nice lighthearted movie and well worth your time.