| The Christmas Chronicles | |
| Director: | Clay Kaytis |
| Screenplay: | Matt Lieberman |
| Music: | Christophe Beck |
| Cinematography: | Don Burgess |
| Editing: | Dan Zimmerman |
| Studio: | 1492 Pictures Wonder Worldwide |
| Distributor: | Netflix |
| Runtime: | 103 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
The Christmas Chronicles is a 2018 American Christmas comedy film directed by Clay Kaytis from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman. The film stars Kurt Russell, Judah Lewis, Darby Camp, Lamorne Morris, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and Oliver Hudson. It is the first installment in The Christmas Chronicles film series. The film was produced by 1492 Pictures and Wonder Worldwide and was released on November 22, 2018, on Netflix.[1]
The plot follows two children, Kate and Teddy, who notice Santa Claus in their home and jump into his sleigh with his reindeer; however, they accidentally cause the sleigh to crash, and the presents are lost. As Christmas morning approaches, it is up to the children and Santa to save Christmas by correctly delivering all of the presents.
The Christmas Chronicles received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. A sequel, titled The Christmas Chronicles 2, was released on November 25, 2020, with much of the original cast returning.
In Lowell, Massachusetts, widow Claire Pierce struggles to keep her family together around Christmas following the death of her husband Doug, a firefighter who died on the job. Their son Teddy has lost much of his Christmas spirit, while their younger daughter Kate keeps it alive and believes in Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve, Claire is called in to work, leaving Teddy in charge.
While watching old family Christmas videos, Kate notices an arm appear out of the fireplace, and deduces that it was Santa. Teddy agrees to help her prove it, on condition that she destroy a video she recorded of him stealing a car earlier that day.
They set up a tripwire and hidden camera, and fall asleep in the livingroom. After Kate awakens and sees Santa, she and Teddy follow him on to his sleigh to get a closer look.
Santa rides off with the kids in tow, but he and the reindeer are startled when Kate makes her presence known. In the commotion, he loses control of the sleigh, causing it to teleport and crash in Chicago, Illinois.
After coming to in Chicago, Santa introduces himself and tells the kids he has to locate his reindeer, hat, and bag of presents, which were lost in the crash, in order to resume deliveries and prevent Christmas spirit from declining. They offer to help him to avoid being permanently on the naughty list.
After they get no help from a bar, they take a Dodge Challenger that was stolen by the bartender. They locate the reindeer, but encounter police seeking the stolen car. Kate goes after the reindeer while Teddy and Santa distract the police with a car chase, which culminates in Santa's arrest.
Teddy reunites with Kate, and together, they find Santa's bag. Going inside the bag to find help, Kate is teleported to the North Pole, where she encounters Santa's elves, who agree to help after discovering that she comes from a "Long line of true believers."
Meanwhile, a gang of thugs grab Teddy and the bag, taking them to their hideout. There, he is saved by Kate and the elves, who are then made aware of the situation.
At the police station, Santa explains his situation to Officer Poveda. When he reveals his knowledge of the officer's wish to reconcile with his ex-wife, Lisa, who shares that wish, he is taken aback, but still refuses to believe him, and locks him in the holding cell.
As the night progresses, however, Poveda notices a higher than usual number of arrests for Christmas Eve, a predicament Santa had warned would happen if Christmas spirit continued to fall. In an effort to slow the decline, Santa gathers all the inmates to perform "Santa Claus Is Back in Town", which works with all the officers except Poveda. After receiving a call from Lisa inviting him for coffee in the morning, however, Poveda is convinced and agrees to release Santa.
The elves complete the repair of Santa's sleigh and give him a spare hat. Realizing that there is only one hour left to deliver presents, Santa enlists the kid's help, with Kate tossing presents to Santa and Teddy driving the sleigh. The plan is successful, with Santa completing his last delivery just before sunrise.
Afterwards, Santa takes the kids home before their mother returns. They ask him if they’ll ever see him again, to which he replies not if he can help it, but will if he ever needs help in the future. Santa gives Teddy his hat as a memento, showing that he did not really need it to move quickly or navigate tight spaces.
When Claire returns, they find the livingroom decorated like their father used to do it. Opening their gifts from Santa, Kate gets the skateboard she asked for, while Teddy gets a magic ornament. When he hangs it, he sees his dad magically appear in his reflection, and they both express pride in each other.
Back in the North Pole, Santa reunites with Mrs. Claus. She asks what movie they are going to watch, and Santa takes out Kate's video of their adventure with a smile.
Development for what would become The Christmas Chronicles began in June 2013, when it was announced Chris Columbus' 1492 Pictures had acquired a Found Footage spec script titled 12/24 written by Matt Lieberman and based on a story by Lieberman and David Guggenheim wherein two brothers set out to prove that Santa Claus is real, using their home video camera and inadvertently cause Santa’s sleigh to crash after stowing away with the brothers trying to work together to save Christmas.[2]
In December 2017, it was reported that Kurt Russell would star as Santa Claus in the film for Netflix,[3] later given the title The Christmas Chronicles.
Principal photography began in January 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[3] The film was set in Lowell, Massachusetts, and Chicago, Illinois.[4]
The film was released on November 22, 2018.[5]
Netflix reported the film was streamed by 20 million households over its first week of release.[6]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "Viewers seeking a fresh holiday viewing option - or those simply in the mood for Santa Kurt Russell - should find The Christmas Chronicles well worth a yuletide stream."[7] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[8]
Melanie McFarland of Salon said: "The film's no great shakes, but Russell's star power in 'The Christmas Chronicles' is a gift anyone should be happy to claim."[9] Charles Bramesco of The A.V. Club wrote: "The film doesn't know how to get out of its own way and foreground what's working, namely the dynamo of screen presence placed more prominently in the advertising than the feature itself."[10] Writing for Vox Magazine, Jenna Allen said: "Above all, it’s clear that Netflix has subverted the holiday movie blueprint - Hallmark, I'm looking at you - by giving us novelty, thrill and humor."[11] Derek Smith of Slant Magazine wrote: "In the end, the film succumbs to the tropes and emotional contrivances of the family melodrama at its core, ending up as a serviceable yet mostly forgettable addition to the already overstuffed genre of holiday-themed films."[12]
The film features a cover of Elvis Presley's Santa Claus Is Back in Town, performed by Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, with actor Kurt Russell on lead vocals.[13] [14] [15] The lineup includes Stevie Van Zandt (of Springsteen's E Street Band) and Marc Ribler on guitar.[15] The band recorded the song with Russell at Steven's studio in New York.[13] In the film, the song is performed by Santa Claus (Kurt Russell) during a scene set at the jailhouse.[14] Each of the band appear onscreen, including Van Zandt and Ribler as named characters Wolfie and Dusty.[13] [15]
See main article: The Christmas Chronicles 2. On September 15, 2020, a sequel titled The Christmas Chronicles 2 was announced. Original director Clay Kaytis dropped out and was replaced by Chris Columbus, who produced the first installment. Stars Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Darby Camp, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Judah Lewis were all confirmed to reprise their roles, while Julian Dennison and Jahzir Bruno were cast to appear in the sequel.[16] The Christmas Chronicles 2 was released on Netflix on November 25, 2020.[17]