source: Santa's Boot Camp

Moviecut—Santa's Boot Camp

I was very pleasantly surprised with this movie. I knew that it would be a great film for little kids, but I found myself cheering on the cast of young actors as their characters learned a valuable lesson as they looked at their own actions and their own lives. I would recommend this for children of all ages. The lessons to be learned are valuable no matter what your age may be or what time of year it may be. It is not easy working with a cast of almost all children, but Ken Feinberg has done a wonderful job of getting the cast to step up and give a very convincing performance. Kudos to the whole cast and crew for a fun, family oriented film that we can all learn from.

Eric Roberts plays a mall Santa and I was a little creeped out by the kids sitting on his lap. A disruption happens and six kids are transported to Santa's compound where they are to work and make toys, filling in for striking elves who want better working conditions and to include other religions into the holiday...to the dismay of Santa who wants to keep Christmas Christian. The kidnapped kids want out, but are first shown what naughty people they are as this in an anti-bullying film whose message was solid, but the conduit for delivering the message was weak. The acting all around was stiff. These weren't Disney kids, although the film, at times attempted to look like a Disney production. This is for kids who still believe in Santa and can't tell good acting from bad, or a bad story line. You know, the kids who loved BFG. If you are looking for a good family Christmas story, try "Blizzard," a delightful tale that flew under most radars.

This is NOT Willy Wonka meets The Breakfast Club as the synopsis states. The original Willy Wonka and The Breakfast Club were great films; I always have doubts when movie blurbs measure themselves to other, more classic, movies and I was proved correct. Firstly, Willy Wonka was a joyful man who liked to make kids happy by giving them chocolate. This Santa is not joyful in the slightest, in fact, he's painted as a big fat postman and it's the elves that do most of the work; but, in their own way, are treated like slaves (they don't even get beds to sleep in) Secondly, The teenagers in The Breakfast Club were typical teenagers. In this movie they are far less typical; not only do they still fervently, and sometimes venomously, believe in Santa but they still want to see him in the mall and sit in his lap and ask for their presents. Then you have the acting, direction, and story, all of which could have been much better. None of that could disguise the fact the North Pole is actually a ranch nowhere near the North Pole. All of this is a shame as the idea of this movie is a good one, one I like a lot as I believe it has great scope. On the good side, the actresses playing Diva and Twinkle are the best thing in this direness. Even Eric Roberts, who must have lost a bet or owed somebody a BIG favour, couldn't lift this out of the quagmire. Beware! You won't get this time back.

This is the perfect holiday movie for the whole entire family to enjoy. My little one has watched it several times and he says its his favorite Christmas movie yet. The story is fresh and warm with a good message! Eric Roberts never disappoints and the young talent is really good. We were delighted to see a younger Erica Bierman ,Twinkle best known for The Hunger Games. Also, cute little Storm Reid from Twelve Years of Slave! Diva was hilarious and got me cracking up! i give a 10/10 for this movie! it got me in the Christmas spirit. ( this movie is also a great gift just in case you forgot to go Christmas shopping.) Merry Christmas!

This film was a dreary affair which I confess I could not sit through to the end. The story is flat and humorless, with the adults childish and the kids way too old and mean and cynical. And as you might imagine, much of the dialogue was to say the least inappropriate. For instance... Dad to daughter at the mall: "You are going to sit on Santa's lap and you are going to like it." The people who made this definitely belong on the naughty list.

Santa's Boot Camp