I was forced to watch this with the family when it came out. Tim Allen is NOT funny. Anybody who thinks he is has been neutered just like him. Tim Allen's acting and comedy both represent the repressed masculinity representative of the oversensitivity of the feminist movement. Tim Allen is a sex-less, gender-less shim. It really makes me personally angry that movies like this make enough money that about a dozen of them a year get green-lighted. I have to wonder if it's the cold draconian efficiency of the marketing companies that handle these accounts, or it it's just the lack of sophistication and sense of humor within the general viewing public. Realistically, it's probably the marketers. They're kind of Stalinesque, really.

_The Santa Clause_ is the most distasteful and resoundingly mediocre film I have ever seen. The underlying premise of the movie -- the violent death of the patron saint of children, treated as goofy slapstick -- is repellent, and none of the some forty-thousand extraneous subplots the filmmakers tack on can change this. What I hate most about this film is its smarminess. Disney Studios has the ability, and the money, to make good comedies -- for example, its recent effort _The Kid_ was witty and entertaining. But in lowest-common denominator efforts like _The Santa Clause,_ the Studio chucks all reliance on plot, character, or invention, and relies instead on what it imagines children will find amusing. When Tim Allen first encounters Santa's reindeer, it's a no-brainer that one of them will be flatulent; hey, kids just love flatulence jokes! When Tim as Santa drinks a glass of milk, of course he thinks it's turning sour! Kids just adore gross-out humor! Everything in the movie is on autopilot, including the de rigeur badguy, the lame fat jokes, the whiny kid who saves the day and crawls under your skin like a parasite, and the treacly, nauseating ending in which I guess we are supposed to learn the true meaning of Christmas. No films anger me as much as mediocre films -- films that are not willing to take a chance. It is amazing how this film can take such a gruesome premise and play it off as a joke -- there is not even a moment's mourning for the passing of poor St. Nicholas. In the ideal world, Frank Capra would rise from the dead and slap the snot out of Tim Allen for making such a cruel and lukewarm holiday film.

This film is contrived and awful. Tim Allen is as personable as Santa Claus as a wet piece of bread. He plays a divorced father, of course, who takes the place of Santa Claus when the real Santa is killed. Hilarious stuff. Lots of typical Disney poo-poo humor and meaningless sub-plots to fill in the vapid film. The movie relies on special effects and shallow humor to mask it's patronizing nature. If the Tim Allen character couldn't even keep his wife happy, what makes an audience think he can spread joy to the entire world as Santa Claus? Tim Allen is a horrible actor who only knows one speed, he's definitely not versatile and every sentimental scene in the movie seems false and forced. The movie may have been popular, but that does not mean that it was good. The jokes in the movie already seem dated and stale, like Michael Jackson's career, people one day will not be raving how good it was, but why in the world in the first place did they like this travesty. Bound for the rubbish bin of the 90's.

In European countries the annual gift-giving 'character' of Saint Nicholas is more commonly known as Sinter Klaus, a sort of colloquial term. This Sinter Klaus was changed to Santa Claus for English-speaking countries where he adopted the role of the more generic character of 'Father Christmas'. Since the dawn of Xmas Commercialism the Santa image has been used by pretty much everyone to sell their crappy products. THIS is how kids in modern society are introduced to a such a ridiculous fantasy figure. Why do any parents feed their kids this nonsensical crap? Imagination is fine. But lying to them about something that a 5-year-old should be able to see through is stupid. That said, as purely a fantasy movie, The Santa Clause is quite amusing. But maybe a bit too obnoxious to be a Xmas Classic. It was only made to cash-in on Tim Allen's Home Improvement success (and directed by a Home Improvement director) on the Disney Channel (which is even referenced rather unsubtly). I suppose it was a lucrative idea, but since I believe Tim Allen is completely talentless it's not really his own success. Santa Claus sells. Not Tim Allen. That's why all his other movies have been complete failures. Allen plays the curiously initialled Scott Calvin, a man who accidentally kills Santa on Xmas Eve. Once he puts on the dead man's jacket he becomes the new Santa and is whisked away to the North Pole. Over the next year he undergoes a transformation from ordinary guy to fat, jolly fellow with a big, white beard. Much to the shock of his ex-wife and baffled boss Peter Boyle (who would later star in the sequels as Father Time). I know that this is strictly a movie for kids but even before I reached double digits I questioned the logic behind 'Santa'. Even the movie lacks basic sense-making. Why would anyone doubt the existence of the movie character Santa Claus? Who do they think delivers free gifts to their children every year? It doesn't add up! If you show this to your kids and back up the lunatic conspiracy that this junk is real then shame on you. If you tell them that it is a load of crap and that the film is strictly make-belief then bravo!

I've never understood the star power of Tim Allen. It's not that I dislike him, I just don't get the appeal. This entry is a very 90's-hip version of the Santa Claus tale, complete with child custody and visitation issues. Workaholic Tim gets lasso-ed into replacing the current Santa Clause on legal technicality. I may be alone, but I thought the plot progression from there was disquieting, unpleasant and just plain bizarre. Maybe I missed the point, but I didn't think much of this film.

Cynical businessman and single dad Tim Allen gets to be the new St. Nicholas after the actual Santa Claus takes a spill Christmas morning. Thin holiday confection from screenwriters Leo Benvenuti and Steve Rudnick is fairly tolerable until the desperate third act (featuring a police search for Tim's missing child). Allen, then a popular TV fixture on the hit sitcom "Home Improvement", easily carried his Everyman appeal onto the big screen with this sugar-coated perennial. The success of the film was not inexplicable, however the results are not particularly witty or inventive. Kids enjoyed it at the time, but of course; the humor is purely television (without the interruptions). Followed by two sequels. ** from ****

I really enjoyed this movie. It was heart-warming and fun to watch. I remember as a child watching my favorite Christmas movies, such as the Grinch that Stole Christmas (cartoon), Miracle on 34th Street, and the classic Scrooge. This movie was so full of fun and warm fuzzies, and PERFECT for the holiday season, that it has easily earned its way into the holiday film montage for my family.

The Downer Debbie's and Negative Nathan's reviewers are hilarious. These viewers are a lot of fun at Christmas parties, not. This viewer enjoyed "The Santa Clause" not because it's a great movie. This viewer enjoyed it because it's a fun movie. Tim Allen's character, Scott Calvin, took a little getting used to himself becoming Santa so that's probably why he was a bit grumpy at first. TSC is a fun movie just because it's fun. Period. Watch it in the spirit it's meant to be viewed. Have fun with it. Tim played a great Santa Claus. He made it believable.

Tim Allen is a marvelous comic presence. But this all belongs to the producers and creators of this film. The script allows for an explanation why Allen becomes Santa Claus. He inadvertently causes the old guy to fall off the roof and the "clause" in the contract forces him to take over the job. He must put on the suit. What happens after this is the integration of Allen into the Santa Claus routine. He begins to get chubby. He gets rosy cheeks. The whole nine yards. He is taken to the North Pole after learning to drive the sleigh. He gets good at distributing presents. The hang up is parental rights to his son, Charley. Judge Reinholdt is the humorless new husband of Allen's former wife. The crazier Allen appears, the more it plays into Charley being kept from his father. An elf named Bernard (who has a Bronx accent) is Allen's right hand man, and he orchestrates things the way he wants them.

Scott Calvin(Tim Allen)is a depressed divorced dad that resents his ex-wife Laura(Wendy Crewson)marrying the child psychiatrist(Judge Reinhold)of his son Charlie(Eric Lloyd). After hearing a clatter on his roof, Scott startles an intruder, Santa Claus, who falls to his accidental death. Because of an unknown technical clause, he inherits the duties of Santa. Scott gains a massive amount of weight and rapidly grows a white beard and reluctantly transforms from a Scrooge to Santa Claus. This all creates a problem for young Charlie, because he knows his dad is Santa...but his step-father insists there is no Santa Claus. Sitcom star Allen makes his movie debut in this family friendly comedy. Pretty corny, but assuredly the younger the viewer the more enjoyable THE SANTA CLAUSE is. If you are not a Tim Allen fan this will fortify your opinion. Also in the cast: David Krumholtz, Mary Gross, Peter Boyle, Joshua Satok and Larry Brandenburg.