By Sarah Wharton

This review contains spoilers.

I was going to write another Christmas horror film review this week but I’ve had one of those weeks where I just couldn’t face any more negativity. So, on Sunday, I settled down with a big mug of hot chocolate and an even bigger bar of chocolate and watched the John Hughes produced remake of Miracle on 34th Street. 

The film stars Mara Wilson (yep, Hayley, I watched and loved Matilda [Danny DeVito, 1996] last week too!) as Susan Walker, a little girl who doesn’t believe in Santa Claus. Her single mother (Elizabeth Perkins) works at struggling Coles Department Store on the titular 34th Street in New York while being gently courted by friend and neighbour Mr Bedford (Dylan McDermott). When Mrs Walker hires eccentric Kris Kringle (Richard Attenborough) as the store’s Santa, little does she know that he is the real thing. As his popularity and, dare I say it, Christmas spirit brings shoppers to the store in droves, the owners of rival Shoppers Express plot to sully his name. After being embroiled in scandal, Kris is declared insane. Mr Bedford, a lawyer by trade, must then go to court to prove that Santa Claus does exist.

Enough cheese for you?

Miracle on 34th Street is one of the most emotionally manipulative films I have ever had the pleasure of watching. And I’ve seen Life is Beautiful (La vita è bella, Roberto Benigni, 1997). Whether it’s Kris Kringle speaking in sign language to a deaf girl, little Susan saying that all she’s ever wanted is a dad, or Judge Harper (Robert Prosky) declaring that Santa Claus does, in fact exist, director Mayfield is constantly pulling the viewer’s heartstrings. It’s got enough sentimentality to put a lump in even the toughest person’s throat and yet for some unknown reason the film is still enjoyable.

Mayfield sets his remake in an odd world which is part 1994, part 1954. People wear what might be called “timeless” clothes and children are decked out in twee tartan coats, berets and flat caps. Everyone is exceedingly polite and formal – it’s Mrs Walker this, Mr Bedford that, and Mr Kringle the other. Even Mr Bedford and Mrs Walker, who’ve clearly been dating some time rarely call each other by their first names. Everything is just that little bit removed from reality. This is a smart move on the part of the filmmakers. In setting Miracle in a storybook version of New York, a world is created in which a court of law could recognise the existence of Santa Claus (with a little help from a small child and the US Treasury, of course) and a whole city would support a seemingly crazy old man by vocally believing in him rather than dismissing him as a crazy old paedophile.

This, perhaps, is the reason why Miracle charms me so much. It is about a much more innocent time when department store Santas didn’t need a CRB check and elderly men who spoke to children weren’t automatically accused of molesting them. This is a world long forgotten. It was already on its way out in 1994 when Miracle was made but in 2008 it’s long gone. In this sense, the film raises a nostalgic smile, even if you’re too young to remember the time it’s referring too. Yes, it’s a corny film, but it is about proving the existence of Santa Claus – what else is it going to be? Once the tears have dried (I defy anyone not to cry at least once), it’s nigh on impossible not to feel good (and festive) at the end of this film. Santa exists, Mr Kringle isn’t insane and Susan Walker has a dad. What more could you possibly ask for?

And you’ll never say you don’t believe in Santa ever again.

Rating: 6.2