Miracle on 34th Street

The last movie I saw before this was It's A Wonderful Life. In my review of that, I said how I liked it well enough, but that it didn't click with me as much as I wanted it to. I was hoping and expecting greatness, and got very good. None of this was the movie's fault; it was just not what I wanted. I can't say the same about Miracle On 34th Street. I don't think it's actively bad, but I could point to issues I had with the narrative that kept me from enjoying it. I still can see its value, and I know nothing I say will ever impeach its legacy or standing, but I am not among those who see it as a holiday classic. For me, it all comes down to the movie being unwilling to actually engage with the concept that Kris Kringle is Santa Claus. It wants to tap dance around it, create this sense of mystery, pretend that he might be just some nutbar who wandered in off the street and proclaimed himself to be a mythic figure. Sure, the narrative is slanted in his favor, so that even if he is nuttier than a pecan farm, you're still supposed to sympathize with him, but you're supposed to be rooting for him to be the real deal. Which would be fine and dandy if he actually did some Santa stuff. Simply being good-natured, not wanting to play into the department store's shilling, and being insistent on his identity isn't enough. If the movie had him do some Santa stuff, maybe only in view of kids, or even by himself, then we have something. How does Santa convince a court of law he's Santa without turning the faith-based foundation of his existence into verifiable fact? We, the audience, could then follow as he and his lawyer attempt to thread the needle. No, instead, we watch an old man insist his identity is what it is because he says it is, and a bunch of uninteresting side characters scurry about him. Yay. And not for nothing, but the title kinda tips the movie's hand. There's no way Santa's getting sent to Bellevue with that kind of title. Again, nothing I say is going to change the tide of an 80 year old movie, and I really wouldn't want to anyway. I'm not trying to come off as some smartest-guy-in-the-room contrarian here. It got a popular remake in the 90's. I know I'm in the minority here, so I'm not changing any minds here, and I wouldn't try anyway. I'm just here to provide another, seemingly rarely heard from, side of the audience. It just didn't work for me. Do with that what you will.