Film Review - "Fatman"

My reviews for Soul and Wonder Woman - 1984 were on deck but we need to talk about this film.

Fatman

Directed by Esholm Nelms & Ian Nelms

Starring Mel Gibson, Walton Goggins, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste

I think it's difficult to make new holiday films. Or at least new, original, holiday films. But by God...did the Nelms Brothers try, and you know what? Damn the Rotten Tomatoes critics Fatman is some kind of cinematic achievement and the surprise of the holiday season.

Chris Cringle (Gibson. Of all people) aka Santa Claus is pretty down on his luck. There are less good children in the world so his gift-giving business is declining. His wife Ruth (Baptiste) tries to keep his spirit up as best she can. The US government, who has a pretty significant share in his business, suggest a contract where he and his elves build components for a new jet-fighter. Chris reluctantly agrees because they could use the funding.

Meanwhile, a little brat (an understatement) named Billy Wenan (Chance Hurstfield) seeks revenge against Chris after getting coal for Christmas. So he hires his personal hitman (Goggins), who has his own vendetta against Santa, to take him out.

Okay first off...this concept and script is incredible. A kid hiring a hitman for revenge against Santa. It's brilliant. It's unique. I love it. You would think this film is absolutely bonkers, and it is, but also it isn't. It takes a more subtle approach and grounds the story in realism. It's kind of the perfect Santa story for 2020. He's bitter, older, and depressed with the state of the world. He has less influence than he used to. Kids, people, are meaner to one another. People (that aren't Tim Allen) are actually trying to kill him! Its like Logan but instead of Wolverine it's Chris Cringle. 

I also like how the film addresses the idea of where Santa gets the money to fund his business. I don't think any film or series has ever tried to answer that. Chris has got a line about how Christmas is the biggest economic stimulus in the world and that's pretty clever. This is kind of a nitpick, but I wish the film went more absurd with the concept. You don't see the classic red suit or the sleigh (He drives a red Ford pickup truck), and there isn't like this...big shootout in the sleigh mid-flight, as like...the reindeer dodge missiles. But I appreciate the filmmakers wanted to ground the story (The budget probably played a big factor in that, too) and I can respect that.

So Mel Gibson...we're just going to put all that controversy in a little box to the side for a second. I thought he was a really good Santa. At least this version of Santa. A grizzled, disgraced Santa who's been kicked down by life way too much. He fits, and he puts genuine effort into his performance. His deadpan delivery of the line "You think I got this job because I'm fat and jolly?" sleighed me (Sorry), and there's this really nice moment where he does see that his work still makes a difference, which was a smaller highlight of the film.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste does a great job alongside against Gibson and brings a lot of pathos to this grim, fictional world. Walton Goggins...is peak Walton Goggins. I'm convinced no one else could play this part. I only wish there was more of him in this. That's from a performance perspective and a story perspective, because we learn a little about his backstory, but not enough in my opinion. Chance Hurstfield is perfectly casted as Billy. He fits the mold of this nasty, over-achiever who will do anything to get his way, so well. He will probably be type-casted for the rest of his young career. It's ok, man. Own it. You were in a Mel Gibson-Santa Claus film.

So the story's not super tight but it's an amazing concept that honestly hits right where it needs to. The performances are on-point. There are a lot of jaw-dropping, hilarious moments. I would love to see what this film would've been like with a higher budget but it is what it is. Again, Fatman is kind of the perfect Christmas film for 2020. It's beautifully absurd. In a year where we didn't get a lot of new films, I don't think anyone should turn their nose up at this. It's really something. 

If you're still in the holiday spirit after New Years, give it a watch. If not I'll just remind you about it next year. 

Film Review Throwback - "Noelle"

Noelle

Directed by Marc Lawrence

Starring Anna Kendrick, Bill Hader, and Shirley MacLaine

I suppose in a way, Christmas films are a dime-a-dozen. Quantity over quality, at least in the case of the Hallmark Channel. Netflix seems to be following suit nowadays, but I’ve heard good things about The Christmas Chronicles duology, and as I’ve said before Klaus is brilliant. 

Major theatrically-released Christmas films seem to be a thing of the past nowadays. And I’m not just saying that because movie theaters are on life-support right now. No, the last Christmas film that I can recall that was heading for theaters was Noelle, before Disney decided to make it an exclusive on their fancy new streaming service last year. Noelle received mixed reviews from critics, and sort of got lost in the shuffle in the first days of Disney Plus, overshadowed by Mandalorians, Goldblums, and High School Musicals. A year later, I was finally able to watch Noelle and I found it to be a simple and enjoyable holiday offering, that doesn’t completely live up to its potential.

Noelle (Kendrick) is the Christmas-loving daughter of Santa Claus (Jay Brazeau) who wants to be just like her father. Alas tradition dictates her older brother Nick (Hader) follow in his father’s footsteps. Flash forward to present-ish day and with their father passed away (Yeah Santa passes away in this film. Bold move, Cotton) Noelle helps her brother prepare for his first Christmas as Santa. Nick’s anxious and his training isn’t going super well, so Noelle suggests he take a weekend to breathe and relax. Instead, Nick vanishes a week before Christmas, and all of the North Pole blames Noelle (Because conflict?).

Disgraced, Noelle ventures outside the North Pole with her childhood nanny Polly (McLaine) to find her brother and bring him home. Along the way she befriends a private-investigator (Jake Hapman) and his son (Maceo Smedley), and learns a bit more about the true meaning of Christmas, and her own special gifts. Meanwhile, with Nick gone, their cousin Gabe (Billy Eichner) is nominated as the next Santa, but threatens to doom the holiday with modern technology and tighter “naughty and nice” guidelines.

Although I’m sure there’s some Hallmark or Lifetime film out there that’s tackled this idea to a lesser quality, I think the idea of a female, Santa’s daughter, taking over his job to be a rather unique concept we haven’t seen much of. I imagine if this film was released theatrically it would’ve been a modest hit. But release-methods aside, the film doesn’t seem very concerned with exploring that concept. 

Instead the film spends more time on searching for Nick, and going through the “fish-out-of water” routine with its protagonist as she explores the regular world, something that we’ve seen in film many times before. This makes Noelle a sort of Santa Clause/gender-swapped Elf hybrid. There are some genuine funny moments that come from this routine though. Additionally, there are some really nice scenes where Noelle is discovering her “Santa powers” for lack of a better phrase. A highlight in the film is where she meets a little girl who cannot speak and starts to sign with her, despite never knowing how to sign before (Santa can speak all languages and communicate in many ways with children apparently. It’s sweet.)

The character arc is so clear here. Noelle wants to get her brother home to restore the natural order of Christmas, but she needs to embrace who she is and take on the role as Santa. If the film was more concerned with following that path then silly side-quests, or focused more on the concept of a female Santa, Noelle could have gone from “good” to “great”.

What really sells the film is Kendrick in the titular role. She’s giving it her all. She’s funny, she’s charming, she’s full of heart. This is kind of a perfect character for her. Bill Hader has some enjoyable moments as Nick. I miss seeing him on a weekly basis. He plays the reluctant Santa with a nice balance of awkward and goofy. Shirley McLaine has a lot of nice moments as Polly. Billy Eichner is surprisingly subtle as Gabe Kringle, and a bit underutilized when you know what he’s capable of.

The visuals I would say are as nice as any you would see in any other live-action Christmas film. The North Pole sets are quaint, but you’ve seen better in say, The Santa Clause films. As a human with an affinity for elf culture, I must say the costume work in Noelle was very tasteful and festive.

Something that I wondered while watching was, is Noelle supposed to be a princess/Disney princess? Polly and other characters refer to her as “Princess”, but The Kringle’s aren’t royalty, but they get “family discounts” and there’s some old charter that says the oldest sibling must take over the role of Santa. She has a cute CGI reindeer sidekick named Snowcone, who probably was supposed to be plushy and covering shelves at the local Disney Store (The CGI on him was decent by the way). Anyway, just something the film left unclear.

 

Noelle is a sweet Christmas film that satisfies but leaves you wanting more than what it offers. But what we have is a reasonably entertaining film with a compelling premise and a wonderful lead performance. There are a lot worse films you can waste your holiday season watching, so I say give this one a chance before watching your 17th Hallmark film of the month...but also it’s good to support those films because they provide a lot of work for people in the industry. *The More You Know*

Film Review Throwback - "Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas In July"

Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas In July

Directed by Arthur Rankin Jr. & Jules Bass

Starring Billie Mae Richards, Jackie Vernon, and Paul Frees

Y’all know me. I love this time of year. The holiday season. Every year I have a catalog of Christmas films and specials I watch, and a lot of them are from the Rankin-Bass Studio. 

If you don’t know who I'm taking about, they’re the people behind Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town, The Year Without a Santa Claus, and so on. Their stop-motion ‘animagic’ specials have been ingrained into the DNA of the holiday season forever. Their popularity has never faded. So, it amazes me no one in Hollywood has tried to cash in on them and reboot a cinematic universe out of them (But please, Hollywood. Don’t...unless you can let me do it.)

You think I’m wacky but Rankin & Bass really did have this sort of cinematic universe with their holiday specials. Many of them existed in the same continuity. Events from one special were referenced in the next, several characters would appear across specials, often voiced by the same actor (Mickey Rooney was Santa for Comin’ To Town, Year Without, and the subject of today’s proceedings).

What I’m getting at is, Rankin & Bass did try to tie all these specials together in a major crossover event film, Rudolph & Frosty’s Christmas In July, starring their two most popular characters as the title suggests. It was released theatrically (briefly, and not very successfully) before making its way to television, where it would re-air annually along with the rest of the Rankin-Bass Holiday Catalog. This would be the final time they would animate either Rudolph or Frosty, before other studios adapted their work.

But is this special one of Rankin & Bass’s greatest? One of their weirdest? One of their worst? I say, “Why not all three?”

The story opens with a prologue narrated by Santa (Rooney), who tells the audience once the North Pole was ruled by a wicked sorcerer by the name of Winterbolt (Voiced by Rankin-Bass veteran Paul Frees, and not to be confused with the other five characters with “Winter” in their name). Tired of watching his cruelty, the Aurora Borealis (Nellie Bellflower) takes human form to put a stop to Winterbolt’s rule by putting him in a deep sleep.

However, taking human form sadly puts an expiration date on Lady Borealis’s time and magic in the North. Winterbolt eventually awakens many years later, after Santa, Mrs. Claus and their elves have set up shop. Seeing Santa as a threat to his rule, Winterbolt decides to get rid of him.

Now stay with me because I promise this is going to pay off in a second. Winterbolt’s plan is to create a horrible storm on the upcoming Christmas Eve, so Santa will become hopelessly lost in the fog, and Winterbolt can take his place as the Patriarch of the North and in the hearts of children everywhere (How this creepy bastard plans to achieve that second part is beyond any of us). So...with her time drawing to a close, Lady Borealis decides to leave behind some of her magic to protect Santa. She bestows it to a newborn reindeer, whose nose will glow a bright, blinding red whenever he thinks good thoughts.

Yes, dear reader. Rudolph’s shiny red-nosed glows with the light of the Aurora Borealis, and was a supernatural, preventative measure to protect Santa Claus “one foggy Christmas Eve” from a wicked warlock.

Winterbolt learns of Rudolph and turns his sights on getting rid of the red-nosed reindeer’s power. It’s kind of hard to explain how Frosty (Vernon), his wife and kids, and a struggling circus by-the-sea gets all intertwined into this story without flat-out summarizing the whole film. Perhaps there lies its greatest flaw. It’s needlessly complicated for a film about Christmas characters. Don’t get me wrong it’s very creative and I appreciate the idea of trying to give a mythology to Rudolph’s nose. But Winterbolt’s plan is way too convoluted, and relies far too much on coincidence. Think Luthor’s plan in Batman VS Superman or Zemo’s in Captain America: Civil War, but even less concrete. He’s almost making it up as he goes...no wait he actually is. There are scenes where he in fact is making it up as he goes.

I know Rankin & Bass probably weren’t setting out to make a cinematic universe when they made the original Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer or even when they made Rudolph & Frosty, but they inadvertently did and just for chuckles let’s comment on it a little bit on it. The continuity is good but it's weak. Like Rudolph grew up his first special, but every appearance afterward he’s a kid/young adult again. Also (Spoiler? It came out in 1979 deal with it) Frosty loses his magic hat and everyone acts like he’s lost forever but previous specials have shown that the hat is not the only method of reviving him. Such as a kiss from his wife. Who’s standing right there. Who did it the first night they met. Heck, even in this special itself there are plot holes, where they don’t follow their own rules. I don’t know. Maybe I just expect more from my Christmas specials…

Kids will enjoy these characters together on screen and working against some bad guys. Older viewers will understand it well enough to know what’s going on. Honestly the concept of this film has always fascinated me. I had a VHS of it when I was younger and I understood it, and watched it every season, despite it being darker than other Rankin-Bass fare. Now that I’m older as I watch it I perform like a mental creative-writing exercise on how to make this a better script (No I still haven’t figured it out but hey now I have the downtime).

The animation is great as we’d expect from this studio, some of the set-pieces are really impressive. You can see how far they’ve come from the original Rudolph. It is cool to see Frosty and his side of the universe translate well into stop-motion (Frosty is always in traditional animation). The voice acting is top-notch as always. Richards and Vernon are the definitive voices of the titular characters. Mickey Rooney is still a top-tier Santa. Paul Frees is great as Winterbolt and few other supporting players. Ethel Merman is fun as Lily Lorainne, owner of the circus. Shelley Winters returns as Frosty’s wife Crystal and she has this nice, sweet-but-firm maternal quality for the character.  Finally, Alan Sues (Whom I know nothing about but he sounds like Andy Dick) is positively grating as...Scratcher the Reindeer.

As one would expect with any Rankin-Bass production this is a musical. The reprisals of the titular character’s anthems are nice. The rest of the songs are just...pretty forgettable? None of them really do anything to move the plot forward but some of them are pretty nice. I mean if you have Ethel Merman I guess you should have her sing. There’s “I See Roses”, a nice love song that Santa sings to Mrs Claus which I always liked, and “No Bed of Roses” which is a touching (?) little lament when Rudolph (Spoilers. Again, 1979.) hits his low point in the film.

Those that are close to me have heard me hype Rudolph & Frosty’s Christmas-In-July up in the past. But I really can’t say it’s good...or bad, really. It’s interesting to watch unfold. Like quality fan-fiction. There’s definitely a nostalgia factor to it. The animation is great. The performances are enjoyable. A lot of what you probably read here gave off a “You need to see it to believe it” vibe, and I’d say that’s accurate. If you like all the other holiday specials from Rankin & Bass, and are looking for something new to watch during the holidays, this might be worth a watch. Who knows? Maybe it’ll become part of your annual holiday watchlist...or not. Yeah, this film’s pretty iffy. Anyway, Merry December 27th everyone!!!