t's two days before Christmas and Santa Jr. is in a grumpy mood. He's been given the Southern California route by his dad, but he's not quite sure he wants to be in the family business. Worried about finishing the route on time, he starts early but gets caught. Police detective Darryl Bedford (Nelson) and his partner Norm (George Wallace) arrest him, thinking he's the Christmas Bandit, and he spends the night in jail.
When public defender Susan Folleto (Holly) meets him, he tells her his name is Chris Kringle Jr., and even though he's expected to following in his father's footsteps, a lot of people are counting on him. Believing he comes from an abusive family, Susan agrees to help Chris, but only if he tells the absolute truth to the judge.
Chris agrees. With no real evidence against him, Susan is able to get most of the charges dropped, until he tells the judge he's Santa's son. The judge puts Chris under house arrest and orders that he wear an electronic tracking bracelet to insure that he doesn't leave the premises. There's only one problem. Susan put down her own address because Chris didn't have one, and now he has to stay at her place.
It doesn't take long before Susan and Norm start believing Chris might really be the son of Santa. And while the skeptical Darryl doesn't believe in Santa Claus Jr., he is more than a little taken with the public defender. But Chris is at a crossroads. His elf, Stan, and reindeer, Harley, are missing, his
bag of presents is evidence, and he's trapped in Susan's house with the police ready to put him back in jail if he tries to leave.
However, even if he figures out how to deal with all those problems and how to finish his route so that all the nice boys and girls get their presents on time, Chris thinks he'd rather hang out at the beach. Even worse, the real Christmas Bandit isn't at all happy that someone is taking credit for his
work, and if Chris can't find the Spirit of Christmas it will be a very sad day for a lot of boys and girls.
A sweet and funny family tale
Santa Jr. is a sweet and funny Christmas tale filled with classic holiday music and the Christmas spirit. While there are no emotional depths to mine here, there are plenty of feel-good moments in this lighthearted story that is filled with solid acting and Hallmark's solid production values.
Nick Stabile, Lauren Holly and Judd Nelson lead the very capable cast, with comic relief provided by Ed Gale as the elf Stan and George Wallace as Norm. The actors make the most of the lightweight material, giving depth to the subject matter when it needs it.
The breezy script by Marc Hershon stays on message, avoiding most of the stereotypical Christmas-story hazards. The characters make logical decisions and reasonable choices, with only the Christmas Bandit storyline seeming out of place. For some reason, too often films count on the comic-book bad guy
to come in and create conflict. However, it really isn't necessary with Santa Jr., and the story would have been better served without it.
Beyond that, this is a charming story about discovering the Spirit of Christmas and figuring out what Christmas is all about. Hallmark once again has produced a fine film that families can watch together.
