Dear Santa (2024) Review: Jack Black’s Goofy Charm Steals the Show in This Lightweight Christmas Comedy
Dear Santa got me interested for two reasons: Jack Black and the Farrelly brothers, marking their reunion since Shallow Hal, which was 23 years ago (!). The movie also reunites Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly, even though they didn’t co-direct other than co-producing together with Bobby serving as the sole director and Peter in charge of co-writing the screenplay alongside Ricky Blitt of TV’s Family Guy and Loudermilk.
Despite the comedic talents both on-screen and off-screen, Dear Santa arrived on Paramount+ and digital platforms with seemingly little fanfare, making me wonder whether the movie gets dumped straight to streaming rather than positioned as a major theatrical rollout. Interestingly, the project was first initiated way back in 2012 when the then-Fox studio acquired Dan Ewen’s spec script — it was originally titled Dear Satan — and the story follows a 7-year-old girl who accidentally misspells the words “Santa” and ends up with Satan bringing her a toy for Christmas instead. Ewen still retains a story credit for the movie and the project only comes to fruition in 2023 under Paramount.
However, the final product introduces us to an 11-year-old boy instead of a girl originally written in the spec script. The boy in question is Liam Turner played by Robert Timothy Smith, where we learn he’s struggling with dyslexia. Christmas is coming and he has written down his wish list and mails the letter to Santa. Except he misspells “Santa” as “Satan” and one night, Satan (Jack Black) appears out of Liam’s bedroom closet and surprises him. Liam isn’t convinced that he’s a Santa but Satan manages to fool him with his jubilant “Ho, ho, frickin’ ho!” personality.
Satan even grants him three wishes and Liam’s first wish is hoping that his crush Emma (Kai Cech) from school would give him a chance. His wish is granted and all Liam needs to do is be brave and ask her out. Now, being a Satan, the three wishes that he’s giving him comes with a price: If Liam makes all of his wishes, he can take his soul. The only problem here is that Liam isn’t a dumb kid who would fall for Satan’s trap, even though the latter insists he will ask for all three wishes at some point.
Dear Santa benefits mostly from Jack Black’s signature goofy charm; he even manages the otherwise evil and manipulative Satan, a likeable character. He certainly has a field day playing the role and pairs well with Robert Timothy Smith’s dyslexic but charmingly delightful turn as Liam. He may have been having trouble with spelling and reading but he’s a shy and good-natured kid. He is also a social outcast and the class loves to tease him for his condition. He hardly has friends except for hanging out with a fellow outcast, Gibby (Jaden Carson Baker, in a solid supporting role) who has buck teeth.
As the movie progresses, we learn that Liam and his parents (Brianne Howey’s Molly and Hayes MacArthur’s Bill) have just moved to a new town due to a past. His parents are always seen arguing with each other and they are worried about Liam getting obsessed with Satan, prompting them to call in a child psychologist played by Keegan-Michael Key in a hilariously deadpan small role as Dr Finkleman to evaluate their son’s sudden erratic behaviour.
So, the contrasting personalities between Jack Black’s Satan and Robert Timothy Smith’s Liam resulted in a few worthwhile comedy moments. There’s an obligatory fart joke added as well. A literal fart joke, to be exact during a scene with P.J. Byrne playing the obnoxious teacher Mr Charles falls under an unfortunate spell, where Satan calls it a “spirited bout of flatulence” following an encounter in the park.
Beneath all the fun and sense of humour, Ricky Blitt and Peter Farrelly’s screenplay also explores the heartwarming sides of Christmas-related messages of love, family and togetherness. The messages are thankfully incorporated without resorting to being preachy. There are some parts where Bobby tends to veer into the melodramatic territory and the whole Post Malone (with the singer himself making an appearance) concert sequence, which should have been a crucial part of Liam’s courtship over Emma since they are both fans, is somewhat lengthy to the point it overstay its welcome. Dear Santa is far from a great Farrelly brothers movie and certainly not on par with their peak mid-1990s and early-2000s era. But the movie remains a decent watch, thanks to the above-average performances and Bobby Farrelly’s reasonably earnest and entertaining direction.
Dear Santa is currently streaming on Paramount+ and is available on Digital.
