Consistently funny festive offering
Kiwi Christmas (PG, 90mins) Directed by Tony Simpson
New Zealand doesn’t exactly have a great tradition of festive movies.
Yes, Home by Christmas and The End of the Golden Weather are great films with December days as part of the setting, but the less said about Gregory King’s 2004 dramedy Christmas the better. So step forward Tony Simpson (Kiwi Flyer) and his team to take up the mantle of creating a family movie that can sit alongside Miracle on 34th Street, The Muppets Christmas Carol and Elf as an annual favourite. It’s a challenge they’ve met with aplomb.
Yes, there will be humbugs who suggest the plotting is a touch predictable, the action overly knockabout, the tale too twee, but this perfectly pitched, magnificently paced film is a delight for audiences of all ages.
A kind of a hybrid of Santa Clause: The Movie, The Santa Clause and Raymond Briggs’ much-loved book Father Christmas Goes on Holiday, Simpson’s story begins with Santa (Finnish actor Kari Vaananen) feeling somewhat jaded.
Disillusioned by the plethora of impersonators and increasingly impolite and demanding children, he laments the lack of ‘‘peace and goodwill’’, only to be informed by his chief elf that ‘‘we can’t do that without a balanced budget’’. With just three days until the big night, he decides a quick jaunt to a far away spot might cure his melancholy. However, a rogue firework sees him crash land off the coast of the North Island. Discovered in a less than ideal state by eight-year-old Sam (Samuel Clark) and 12-year-old Molly (Luca Andrews), on a somewhat strained camping holiday with their recently separated parents, Santa assumes the guise of Stan in the hope no one will discover his real identity.
While his North Pole employees frantically search for their boss, the local Coastal Security team (led by Laura Daniel’s officious Grizzelda Carlton) also want a word with a heavily bearded man seen arriving illegally and potentially importing dangerous goods.
Like another 2017 Kiwi comedy, this features a host of recognisable faces off the tele (Westside‘s Xavier Horan and Will Hall, Step Dave‘s Sia Trokenheim) and plenty of fish-out-of-water gags. Thankfully though, Gary of the Pacific this ain’t. For Kiwi Christmas is actually consistently funny.
From condiment-related clowning to gags aimed at our tough biosecurity reputation and a mirth-filled camping ground cricket game, there are plenty of memorable moments and scenes that had my discerning sevenyear-old cinematic companion laughing like a drain. More sceptical big sister was also entertained, while I enjoyed the Spielbergian-esque family drama and local references to things like the calicivirus.
So yes, the old ‘‘let’s get Christmas back-to-basics message is a bit old hat, but the impressive writing trio of Simpson, Andrew Gunn and Dave Armstrong have delivered a rare 21st century effort that evokes the memory of the great kidult dramedies (The Mad Dog Gang, The Firestarter ) we used to be famous for.
– James Croot