Claus with An E

So what is The Santa Clause about? Is it the story of a divorced dad becoming Santa who just happened to be played by 90s grunting funny man Tim Allen? Is it a divorced kid's power fantasy where Charlie Calvin gets to be the son of Santa as a reward for putting up with divorce? Or is it a much deeper, sadder, stranger movie than anyone really sees?

Yes, there's Bernard the elf who is superb. And a massively underutilized Judge Reinhold. And the fantastic world within a world hidden Christmas city. There are silver goblets for hot cocoa and puppet reindeer named Blitzen. But there's loneliness. There's Scott Calvin on an island by himself being willed into being Santa because of some legalistic mumbo jumbo hidden on some card stock that he is powerless against. From the outside, it's a breakdown. Even if the inside is magical.

Whatever the case, come in by the magical fire, spin your snowglobes, suspend your questions about the reality of Santa, and get into the Clause of it all (toy tank nor hot fudge on the side included).