Santa Fake Movie Review

SANTA FAKE came out on DVD and digital on December 3. It is a great movie to enjoy with the family over Christmas break! My spouse and I and our three children just watched the copy I was sent to review tonight.

In this title, Pat Kelley (Damian McGinty, “Glee”; Celtic Thunder) is an undocumented immigrant from Ireland. He was orphaned as a child and managed to travel over to NYC. He finds a job working at a bar/pub and his boss (John Rhys-Davies) becomes like a dad to him but Pat’s place of employment is not his boss’s only business.

One night, the boss instructs Pat to take two suitcases a few blocks away to the train station and will be paid a large sum for his work. The boss tells him he must not open the suitcases. Shortly after, Pat is walking down the street and almost becomes paranoid about those he encounters on the street being out to get him or being part of the police.

In a panic, Pat boards the bus and ends up traveling all the way to Santa Fe, New Mexico. He calls the boss to tell him what he is done. Not too long after, Pat calls his boss again and his boss tells him that he knows where he is, presumably from the payphone number he is calling out on, and is sending two of his henchmen to get Pat with the assumption that Pat has already spent what was in the suitcases.

Pat is taken by Ms. Ortega, the owner of a bed and breakfast he is staying at, to the local mall to buy new clothes. While there, he stumbles into a job at the mall as a Santa Claus and discovers that this may allow him to hide in plain sight with wearing a costume if the henchmen are on their way. Pat plays the part of a mall Santa very well, but will it be enough to keep him safe?

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this movie because I hadn’t heard anything about it from friends or television. It was a great film. We all liked it in my family. There is singing and a bit of adventure and suspense with the feels of the heartwarming holidays wrapped into one.

SANTA FAKE features an all-star cast including Damian McGinty (“Glee;” Celtic Thunder), Heather Morris (“Glee”), John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones), Judd Nelson (“Empire;” The Breakfast Club; St. Elmo’s Fire), Jeff Fahey (“Lost;” Alita: Battle Angel, Machete), Tony Amendola (The Legend of Zorro; “Stargate;” Blow; Annabelle), Gary Farmer (Dead Man; “Longmire;” “The Red Road”), Soledad Saint Hilaire (Real Women Have Curves; Ocean’s Thirteen), and Pancho Moler (“Ray Donovan;” “American Horror Story”).

Also on its way in Santa’s sleigh, as companions to the film, are the EP “Songs of SANTA FAKE” by Damian McGinty, “SANTA FAKE: The Movie Soundtrack,” and the children’s picture book: SANTA FAKE: You Are Never Alone at Christmas, which will be available in e-book and print.

Run Time: Approx. 86 minutes
Rating: Not Rated

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Twitter: @SantaFakeMovie
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