There’s a smart little “what if” at the centre of this season’s umpteenth Christmas comedy Dear Santa: what if a kid wrote a letter to Santa but accidentally put down Satan’s name instead? It’s a spelling error, made by an awkward 11-year-old with dyslexia, that leads to a surprise festive visit from the wrong man in red, chaos inevitably ensuing.
But, as one has come to expect from other recent films based on neat, easily pitched loglines, the question is far more interesting than the answer. Because the film, directed by one-time co-bro of studio comedy Bobby Farrelly and co-written by sibling Peter, isn’t able to find the punchline to its joke, a great idea that makes for a sub-par movie.
