Call Me Claus

by Mike Freni

New TNT original movie destined to become a holiday hit.

 

Recently, Turner Network Television (TNT) has been on the ball when it comes to producing some great original made-for-TV movies. For example, their movie rendition of the book The Mists of Avalon was outstanding, as well as other original movies like Animal Farm, Witchblade (which is now also a series) and James Dean. So when I was asked to review TNT's original holiday movie Call Me Claus starting Whoopi Goldberg, I knew I would enjoy it even though it was rather early to get into the holiday spirit. If you take the movie as it's meant to be taken - as a fantasy about a woman who finds out she is to become the next Santa Claus - you'll enjoy this movie. For this reason, I feel that it will definitely be a big hit with the kids. However, I do feel there were some decisions made in executing this film that might not have been made for the best.

Goldberg, who is also one of the movie's executive producers, plays Lucy Cullins - a producer at a television home shopping network that due to a tragic event in her childhood is not one with the holiday spirit. For the network's Christmas season, she hires a man named Nick (played by Sir Nigel Hawthorne) as their " Santa Claus." What she doesn't realize is that Nick is the real Santa Claus and will be retiring at the end of the season. He believes that Lucy is the next one to step in as St. Nicholas and has to convince her before Christmas Day or basically the world will end. A bit far-fetched I know, but the movie's writers and producers were smart to keep the premise simple so it would appeal to all ages.

The entire first three-quarters of Call Me Claus are fine and rather enjoyable. The tone is extremely lighthearted and Goldberg is great at playing a dominating and cynical executive that really wants to break free and have love in her life again. The main problem with this movie comes at the end (WARNING: I'm about to spoil the end of the movie, which I'm sure most have you have already figured out on your own. If you don't want to know the ending, stop reading here.). Throughout the movie, Nick attempts every trick in his bag to convince Lucy that he's the real deal and she's to be the next Santa Claus, such as through transporting her to the North Pole and mentioning things from her childhood. Although she gets close, eventually she has it with him and tells him to leave. He leaves his Santa cap, which he keeps trying to get her to put on so everything will become clear, in her apartment after he leaves. She finds the cap, puts it on and voila - she knows she's Santa.

Now, here's my real problem...when Disney had come out with The Santa Claus with Tim Allen, making him look like a convincible Jolly Ole Saint Nick was not a problem. After all, he totally fits the general consensus that Santa is a white man with a white beard, red suit and rather bulbous stomach. Well, in Call Me Claus, it's a little more difficult to make a black woman with dreadlocks into Santa Claus. So what did the makers of this movie decide to do? They dressed Goldberg in the traditional red Santa suit, but she decides she doesn't want to wear the black belt. OK, looks weird but we can handle it. What's next? White dreadlocks. I'm sorry, but this just doesn't work for me. While the movie is supposed to be a fantasy, fantasy stories still need to have a few ounces of reality within them to make us believe the possibility that they could happen. At this point, all reality has ceased to exist. Furthermore, I think that this part will just serve to confuse kids.

After Lucy gets her gear and gets all psyched to start delivering presents, for me the movie totally loses my interest. Although it's probably due to my disbelief about the dreadlocks and the fact that Goldberg looks nothing to me like Santa Claus, Call Me Claus drags on for another 15 minutes or so and just seems to lose its luster and rhythm. The producers would have been wise to stop the movie after Lucy finds out she's Santa - it would have made a proper stopping point, as all problems were resolved.

For what it's worth, Call Me Claus will be a hit for TNT when it premieres on December 2nd and will most undoubtedly be played for many Christmases to come. And while Goldberg is a great choice for a movie like this, it just doesn't work for me. Was TNT trying to make a holiday movie that would be more acceptable to the African-American community or that showed that women can do every job, even be Santa Claus? Maybe, but if so that was the wrong tactic to take. It's bad enough that Christmas has become so commercialized; we don't need to make it a prime example of women or minorities' rights. You can call me crazy if you like, but Call Me Claus should have thought twice about some of their casting and production decisions.

The two-hour TNT original move Call Me Claus will premiere on Sunday, December 2nd at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) and will replay throughout the month of December. The film features new music by Garth Brooks. For more information, please visit TNT's website www.tnt.tv.com.