The age-old tale of Santa Claus presenting himself to mere mortals, and the mortals grappling with whether this weirdo actually is St. Nick gets yet another retelling in this yawner of a holiday flick. Lil Rel Howery stars as the big guy, while Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges must eventually come around to believe in Christmas magic, yada yada. Including a non-sensical subplot about a corrupt politician, a swapped iPad, and a trio of henchmen hot on Santa’s trail, nothing here works. The script meanders all over the place, and even the few jokes that hit their mark are quickly forgotten in this slog. Oddly enough, the same story was done much better earlier this year on (of all places) the Hallmark Channel in ‘Catch Me If You Claus’. Go figure.
1/5 stars