I happened upon this film this Christmas season and found it surprisingly funny. Now I will say that, dumb as parts of it were, I did enjoy the original with Arnold somewhat more than this one. But there were some funny scenes in this one, including some slapstick that will surely entertain young folks.
Here we have a man named Larry, played by Larry the Cable Guy who is much like the character he plays elsewhere. In fact, one of the funnier bits was a sort of spoof of Larry's bit involving a doll that was too-familiar to the character in the film. Larry is seen having a wonderful time with his young daughter, Noel, who clearly loves her dad, but who also loves her mom and likes her new step-dad.
In all the early scenes, Victor, the step-dad, appears to be a very nice man who is happy to have Larry around, sharing time with him even though they have little in common. The only conflict early-on comes from both dads wanting Noel to love them the most and both feeling like they cannot compete with each other.
Larry reads Noel's letter to Santa, believing it to say that the one thing she wants is the year's "must-have" toy, a stuffed bear named Harrison that talks. The way the letter was written makes him question if that is what she wants, but this is never questioned for most of the film. I don't believe this is a spoiler because we get to read the letter too, and while we might not figure out what she wrote, the Harrison Bear seems the most plausible to us as well.
So Larry goes to get one but finds the store out of stock. Unknown to him, Victor is so eager to become loved by Noel that he goes to great expense (he owns a big company) by sending his security head to go everywhere around and buy out all available Harrisons, just to keep Larry from giving one to Noel. His employee, Welling, goes to great pains to make sure Larry doesn't get one.
Larry deals with a number of unfortunate incidents along the way, including some physical stuff that was comical and a scene where the police appear ready to ruin his Christmas. He dresses up like a hobo to get a bear from a charity Santa location but endures being spotted by an old friend who mistakes him for a homeless guy. It was funny that she recognized him, given the disguise he wore.
He finally discovers Victor's role in the shortage of bears and confronts him, and the two wind up realizing they don't need to compete for Noel's attention so much.
I know the plot was rather simple and the film lacked the wild finish the original had, but it was reasonably enjoyable. There was no language or nudity to make it objectionable. Larry's off-color humor was greatly reined in from most of his appearances. I cannot claim this to be a new perennial for each Christmas season. I just think it was reasonably funny.
Here we have a man named Larry, played by Larry the Cable Guy who is much like the character he plays elsewhere. In fact, one of the funnier bits was a sort of spoof of Larry's bit involving a doll that was too-familiar to the character in the film. Larry is seen having a wonderful time with his young daughter, Noel, who clearly loves her dad, but who also loves her mom and likes her new step-dad.
In all the early scenes, Victor, the step-dad, appears to be a very nice man who is happy to have Larry around, sharing time with him even though they have little in common. The only conflict early-on comes from both dads wanting Noel to love them the most and both feeling like they cannot compete with each other.
Larry reads Noel's letter to Santa, believing it to say that the one thing she wants is the year's "must-have" toy, a stuffed bear named Harrison that talks. The way the letter was written makes him question if that is what she wants, but this is never questioned for most of the film. I don't believe this is a spoiler because we get to read the letter too, and while we might not figure out what she wrote, the Harrison Bear seems the most plausible to us as well.
So Larry goes to get one but finds the store out of stock. Unknown to him, Victor is so eager to become loved by Noel that he goes to great expense (he owns a big company) by sending his security head to go everywhere around and buy out all available Harrisons, just to keep Larry from giving one to Noel. His employee, Welling, goes to great pains to make sure Larry doesn't get one.
Larry deals with a number of unfortunate incidents along the way, including some physical stuff that was comical and a scene where the police appear ready to ruin his Christmas. He dresses up like a hobo to get a bear from a charity Santa location but endures being spotted by an old friend who mistakes him for a homeless guy. It was funny that she recognized him, given the disguise he wore.
He finally discovers Victor's role in the shortage of bears and confronts him, and the two wind up realizing they don't need to compete for Noel's attention so much.
I know the plot was rather simple and the film lacked the wild finish the original had, but it was reasonably enjoyable. There was no language or nudity to make it objectionable. Larry's off-color humor was greatly reined in from most of his appearances. I cannot claim this to be a new perennial for each Christmas season. I just think it was reasonably funny.