Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

Overrated

Admirable film.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

To give the movie its deserved credit, Richard Attenborough is a wonderful successor to the iconic Kris Kingle as played by Edmund Gwenn in George Seaton's seminal Christmas classic "Miracle on 34th Street" and Mara Wilson is just as good as the little girl who doesn't believe in Santa but wishes she could and only asks for a proof. In fact, she embodies our very attitude toward the film, we love the original, we want to embrace this one with the same enthusiasm, so we're waiting for the script to charm us.And it's only fair to have high anticipations, the film was made in 1994 when commercialism was as preeminent as five decades later, and written by John Hughes who could give a subtle dimension of satire and benign cynicism, all these elements could have given an edge to the 1994 remake. Unfortunately, the film doesn't really manages to deliver: when it's good, it's just as good as the original, the rest of the time, it's just a pale copy that fails to capture the the taste of its era. This film could have been made in the 80's or the 70's as well because the story is timeless, but not in the 'appealing' meaning of the word.It's incredible but "Miracle on 34th Street" manages to feel more dated than its glorious predecessor, the 1947 version starring Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara and young Natalie Wood. Maybe the remake was liable to feel dated because the 1947 classic was already ahead of its time for its take on Christmas consumerism, its portrayal of a divorced mother and a precocious girl (tired tropes today), so any attempt to duplicate the charm of the movie was likely to fail... unless it tried to modernize the original premise a little bit.The problem with Les Mayfield's movie and John Hughes' screenplay is that the two men seem to be in awe with the original and never really dare to make the original structure shatter, not a bit. As a result, we have quite exactly the same movie, and the changes operated in this one never feel as improvements but rather inspire the opposite feeling. For instance, the climactic trial scene with the bags of mail delivered on the courtroom is only replaced by a parallel drawn between the existence of Santa Claus and the faith in God which, as smart as it is, is anticlimactic and leaves many things in wanting.We all know the story is heading toward a heart-warming and magical conclusion but there's just something curiously depressing in the turn of events that lead the gentle Kris Kingle in jail and the way his aura immediately fades while the set-up of his downfall is quite obvious. There was a moment where I expectedKingle to tell that the man he assaulted had just literally accused him of the worst possible crime and had the punch coming, but the scene dangerously flirts with the idiotic plot where the lines that can get you off the hook aren't said, for no other reason that they're waiting for the right moment. I feel a bit guilty to be so judgmental, again there's that snow beard in Richard Attenborough and that glee in his eyes that makes many scenes with him very touching, I loved his interaction with the deaf girl (a smart remake of the Dutch scene), his chemistry with Mara Wilson hit the right chord, and that little girl is a genuinely good actress conveying the right mix of smartness and innocence (a bit like a real-life Lisa Simpson). But the film reminded me of that scene where Kingle and Bryan, the lawyer enamored with Susan's mother, and played by Dylan McDermott, discuss about the mother (Elizabeth Perkins) and say there's something quite sad about her.There's something sad in the film as well, sometimes, Elizabeth Perkins overplay that feeling and make any scene she's in a killjoy, even her romance with Dylan, while integral to the original happy ending, are only inserted in the movie as an 'obligation' but it's obvious these moments slow down the script more than anything. There are a few good characters in the film, the judge played by a scene-stealing Robert Prosky, the so underrated J.T. Walsh as the prosecutor but the film loses its way in many unnecessary plot points, and escalate to a trial where we feel cheated because we didn't have our bags of mail, after all, there was no Internet yet in 1994, it could work.The film is still an enchanting moment that can please any child of any age, but it lacks that little sharpness, the taste of modernity it needed, and luck, too. Macy's didn't want its name associated with the film so they had to come up with a fictional company had to invent a and make the rival an evil businessman, missing the opportunity of the 'marketing policy' subplot that made the first film so ahead of its time. It's like Mayfield and Hughes didn't trust their own material, they had so charming protagonists who could carry the film alone, who needed villains? Especially when the "system" or the world's cynicism was good enough an antagonist. A good film nonetheless, but so one-dimensional in its treatment it feels dated by the original film's standards.

The 1994 remake of Miracle on 34th Street was updated by writer and producer John Hughes already flying high with his Home Alone films and he manages to snag Richard Attenborough who was coaxed out of acting retirement a year earlier by Steven Spielberg for Jurassic Park.The original is regarded as a classic in America but not as well known in the UK and here I could see this film in its own merits.Hughes has followed the story of the original film with a department store executive Dorey Walker (Elizabeth Perkins) and her young daughter Susan (Mara Wilson) who do not care much for the spirit of Christmas. Dorey hires a venerable old man Kriss Kringle (Richard Attenborough) at the last minute when the usual Santa is found drunk. Kriss quickly becomes popular even if it means by always telling the truth that he directs people to rivals stores for toys because it would be cheaper there.The store is subject to a hostile takeover from a rival and part of the shenanigans means that Kriss believes that he really is Santa Claus and finds himself in court to be declared insane.The film is a decent family drama and although updated for a more cynical age which includes more disbelievers and non-nuclear families it does have plenty of festive spirit that families would enjoy but is never spectacular.The film turns on the revelation contained on a dollar bill but personally if I had written the film I would had just told the Judge to look behind him. Most American courtrooms have the Judge sitting in front of the words 'In God we trust!'

While I believe a great film can be updated to fit more recent times, the 1994 remake of the 1947 classic Miracle on 34th Street is an example of how good intentions can go astray.I thought Richard Attenborough did a fine job in the lead role. The spirit of the film was truly much like the original version. Where they went wrong was getting too heavily into the serious plots—the scenes between Mrs. Walker and the attorney were too long and too detailed, without being humorous at all.{Spoiler alert} One scene near the end was troubling to me. They appeared in a Catholic church after midnight Mass and the priest was happy to marry them even though they obviously had not agreed to get married beforehand. This isn't Las Vegas. Any normal minister on seeing that the couple had not really planned on getting married, but were just then considering it, would have wanted to wait until they were sure before performing a ceremony.What really hurt was that most of the scenes from the original that made it such a fun film were eliminated in the remake. The comical interaction between Kris and Susan as he tried to let her learn to pretend, and, most significantly, the great courtroom scene where all the huge bags of mail were carried in, convincing the judge that the postal service considers Kris to be Santa were not in the remake.In fact, the "big courtroom scene" had the judge all ready with his verdict, then, on seeing one familiar phrase on the back of a dollar bill, suddenly rendering a totally different verdict on a rather flimsy bit of logic. In the original, the judge's dilemma was saved by thousands of pieces of unexpected evidence. In the remake, the judge changed his mind over seeing something that he could easily have thought about on his own—the concept of trusting someone or something you can't see is not unique to the phrase on the our money.I will agree that the 1994 Kris had more reason to strike his antagonist in the remake—but the scenes of him being tormented were not fun to watch. When he struck at the man, he swung his cane quite hard—hard enough to have done some real damage, which is something I'd like to think a real St. Nicholas would simply not do. In the original, he was simply frustrated at the annoying Macy's employee and gave a light tap that clearly would not have seriously hurt anyone.Even the opening scene in the remake removed the humor of the original. I remember well how I was impressed the first time I saw the original, where Kris is walking down the street and happens to see reindeer and a Santa figure in a display window, and he knocks on the door and proceeds to instruct the man that he has the reindeer misarranged. The 1994 version simply has Kris standing at a stop light and when the man beside him says that the little boy next to him thinks Kris is Santa Claus, he leans over and whispers, "I am Santa Claus." Ho-ho-dull.

Dylan McDermott (Mr. Gailey), Richard Attenborough (Kris Kringle), and Mara Wilson (the girl) are fine, but Elizabeth Perkins is miserable as Mrs. Walker, the girl's mom. She mumbles her lines with no intensity or feeling. Also, in the original there were some dramatic twists that were interesting and advanced the plot; here, all the twists are planned ahead of time and telegraphed to the audience. I liked the Walker girl watching the parade out of Mr. Gailey's window -- all the floats were (in color!) right there. And, Dylan McDermott does his best to be an engaging boyfriend wannabe, and Richard Attenborough tries to be a charismatic Santa, but the movie really falls flat with poor writing, poor acting by Elizabeth Perkins, and probably poor pacing, staging, and dramatic narrative by the director. Take a pass on this faux remake and go back to the original with great actors like Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara, and Natalie Wood, and a narrative that was actually dramati, real, and interesting.