What do you get when you watch a 1996 PG film in 2021? An ambitious story with poorly contrived scenarios and over the top silly antics with a feel-good ending. It was a time when American society lived in a bubble and the film's idea of what a Dear God letter might ask for were mostly trivial, where even the more profound requests were turned into some kind of schlapshtick (Trivia: no longer in the dictionaries but it's not actually spelled slapstick originally; Schlap is German meaning to laugh so hard you fall apart, & shtick is a kind of comedy delivery). But in their effort to make it a PG film, we can understand why there wasn't anything too deep or too emoted. But being a PG film, it does make you wonder if you want your kids exposed to the con man situations such as fake bandages on the hands to trick someone into providing cab fare. It does have a good message so I give it 6 stars. But I'm not really sure it's a good family film and yet it's almost too trivial and contrived for adults to enjoy. But it's probably far better than what most kids watch today with zero supervision.
Dear God
(1996)
A decent Christmas film with a good message but a bit too much antics
18 December 2021