By Geno McGahee
As I watch Christian and holiday films, I keep stumbling upon Kevin Sorbo. He must have the most Christmas spirit in the world next to Dean Cain, who does almost exclusively Xmas movies. They were both in GOD’S NOT DEAD… they probably have the same agent and he hooks them up with holiday movie roles. Thankfully, Sorbo brings his A game to nearly every film he’s in and THE SANTA SUIT is no different.
Drake Hunter (Sorbo) is the owner of Hunter Toys, a company his father started, but he handles the company differently after his father’s passing. His dad started the company by making good quality toys, making his fortune off of a princess doll, but Drake focuses on the marketing and lowering the quality and also cutting all the benefits of his employees. The majority of the people that work with him hate his guts and he has a genuine dislike for Christmas, outside of making money. He is very much like his character in GOD’S NOT DEAD. It would be very easy to confuse the two. Both have a hard time being convinced and insult the people that actually believe. I think Sorbo should play this sort of character all the time.
Kriss Krandal (Derry Robinson) shows up at a job fair at Hunter Toys and stays behind to get a word with Drake about the spirit of the holidays. Kriss looks just like Santa because he is Santa and grills Drake on the spirit of the holiday. You’d think that Drake would kick him in the balls and throw him down a flight of stairs for having the nerve to say two words to him, but he doesn’t. He explains why he hates the holiday so much and spends a good couple of minutes talking it over with the complete stranger. Kriss/Santa decides that the best way to get Drake back in touch with his love of the holidays was to turn him into a Santa and now he looks identical to Krandal. What was strange was that whenever Kriss did some magic, he touched the end of his nose. Why would he have to do that? Would strange magic happen if he touched his nose without wanting something? I never got that there had to be some motion with magic. Why can’t he just think it and it’d happen? I think BEWITCHED started this shit.
Getting kicked out of the building and ending up in jail, Drake, now looking like Santa, starts throwing his weight around to get his way, but he’s no longer the multi-millionaire he once was. He gets let out and winds up at a homeless shelter where he meets Nancy (Jodie Dowall). She hooks him up with a Santa gig at a small toy store and he meets Sebastian (Darrell Faria), an actor playing his elf. When the boss tries to fire Sebastian, Drake steps up and saves his job and it starts to melt the ice. The children coming to see Santa at the toy store starts changing Drake’s perception and he starts to see the error in his ways…a little.
One particular kid, Gemma (Brianna Daguanno), keeps showing up but doesn’t say a word. Drake sees that she has something to say but can’t get it out. After some research, it’s discovered that she lives in the house that Drake was raised in and it brings back memories of his childhood and how his mother passed and how they made it through. He learns that Gemma has lost her dad and is having a similar upbringing and has lost her faith in Santa, which is very familiar to Drake. Making matters worse, Gemma’s mother works at Hunter Toys and is getting paid dick. There is no Christmas bonus and the pay sucks.
Drake finds the spirit of the holiday and now vows to make everything right. This film is definitely a little bit FAMILY MAN without question, but there is plenty of charm within. Sorbo delivers. I loved his character in GOD’S NOT DEAD and to see a variation of it back was nice. The rest of the cast did a great job, including the young Daguanno and Dowall. This film won’t change the world, but I did enjoy it. It did a great job at capturing the feeling of the holiday, bringing a mushy message and making you want to start hanging up decorations. II recommend it!
Rating: 7/10
