SANTA WHO? (2000) ** The hope for an amnesiac Santa movie with Leslie Nielsen in the role would be his ability to make sure that he puts enough into every scene by putting ten times as much as any need. On that account, the film is disappointing. There's nothing wrong with his performance, but there's nothing in it that reminds you of Jerry Lewis or Airplane! either. Instead it's a quaint, nicely paced little affair...if Steven Eckholdt is a yuppie who can't ever quite figure out how to be quite as much of a jackass as he'd like to be, waaal the world is full of such creatures....and if it astounds you that Robyn Lively doesn't just throw his self-serving ass out the door, the world is full of similar mysteries. This sets the scene, of course, for everyone to turn good. Badass elves with a funky detective theme, U.S. Customs officers....there is plenty of silliness to it. I think maybe Leslie wasn't as silly as you'd expect because Santa is such an absurd role that he feels too comfortable in it!
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