If I could have I would have rated this -10! This movie is a disaster and what makes it so is the acting. Its amateur and thats putting it as nicely as possible. Its as if they're all reading straight off the cue cards with no expressions on their faces or inflection or emotion in their voices. I despise the '94 remake but this version makes the '94 film seem Oscar worthy. Now I hate when people imply sinister things that aren't really there in a film thats wholesome fare, but there's something about the way this Santa interacts with Susan, it comes off creepy. Made me uncomfortable watching their scenes together. And his portrayal of Santa didn't help matters, his performance was awkward at best. He had this wild look in his eyes throughout the whole film, that really did make him look like he should be committed. And when he hit Mr. Sawyer, it was not the innocent "V8 bop" Gwenn gives in the '47 version, instead he literally clubs him and in front of the children and then after stands there with this evil grin on his face, makes the viewer hardly sympathetic to his plight. Also, the whole plot that involved Mr. Sawyer giving a speech about the non-existence of Santa at Susans school, where the incident I just mentioned took place, was beyond contrived. What kind of school would hold an assembly for the purpose of ruining the fantasy idol of grade school children?? I understand that this is fiction, but there still has to be a basis in reality somewhere. The scene I just described was one of many deviations from the original movie. Another that didn't sit well was that Doris only finds Kris after he applies for the job as Santa instead of stumbling upon him at the actual parade....I think that sort of took some "magic" out of the tale. It just seemed the lightheartedness, innocence, sentiment and charm captured by the 1947 original was completely lacking in this. It was wholly miscast and poorly acted and it completely missed its mark. They should have just aired the original movie back in 1955 and made an annual tradition of it similar to what they did with 'The Wizard of Oz' and maybe the original 'Miracle' would be just as beloved. I could go on and on about what a travesty this picture is, but I have a 1000 word limit, just stick to the 1947 version is my sound advice.
Review of The Miracle on 34th Street
