{"id":8495,"date":"2024-11-18T23:28:54","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T04:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=8495"},"modified":"2024-11-18T23:28:54","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T04:28:54","slug":"miracle-on-34th-street-1994","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/11\/18\/miracle-on-34th-street-1994\/","title":{"rendered":"Miracle on 34th Street (1994)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Miracle on 34th<\/sup> Street <\/strong>(1994)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 20th<\/sup> Century Fox\/Drama-Fantasy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 114 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (some mild language, alcohol use and drunkenness)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Les Mayfield\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: George Seaton and John Hughes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Bruce Broughton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Julio Macat\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: November 18, 1994 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Richard Attenborough, Mara Wilson, Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott, J.T. Walsh, Simon Jones, Joss Ackland (uncredited), James Remar, Jane Leeves, Robert Prosky, William Windom, Jack McGee, Allison Janney.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $17.3M (US)\/$46.2M (World)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ***<\/p>\n

\u00a0I watched this remake of Miracle on 34th<\/sup> Street<\/strong> for the first time since it came out and found myself thoroughly enjoying it. There\u2019s no question the 1947 original is the better of the two, but this one has enough strong points to make it worth a look.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Now I\u2019m going to get personal for a moment and tell you what I liked best about it. The little girl, played by Mara Wilson (Matilda), sounds exactly like my own 6YO grandniece Savannah. The phrase \u201cout of the mouths of babes\u201d appears to have been created with these girls in mind. I can hear my grandniece saying some of the exact same things that Susan Walker says throughout the movie.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Miracle on 34th<\/sup> Street<\/strong> also boasts a strong performance from filmmaker Richard Attenborough (Gandhi) as Kris Kringle, a role originally played by Edmund Gwenn. He carries off the role with all the charm and dignity it deserves. As I\u2019m sure you all know, Miracle on 34th<\/sup> Street<\/strong> isn\u2019t your typical Christmas fantasy film. It\u2019s not even necessarily aimed at children. It\u2019s really about faith and belief, concepts that don\u2019t just apply to Santa Claus. The material calls for an actor who will play it straight rather than tongue-in-cheek like Tim Allen in The Santa Clause which came out around the same time. His comedic take on the role would not work in the context of Miracle on 34th<\/sup> Street<\/strong>. That\u2019s why a serious actor like Mr. Attenborough is a perfect choice.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Who doesn\u2019t know the plot of Miracle on 34th<\/sup> Street <\/strong>by now? The major difference here is that Macy\u2019s department store has been replaced by \u201cCole\u2019s\u201d (completely fictitious, no connection to Kohl\u2019s). The ending is slightly different as well. Aside from a few other minor details, the story is pretty much the same. An elderly gentleman claiming to be the real Santa Claus gets hired as a last-minute replacement after the regular guy (McGee, The Fighter) shows up for the annual Thanksgiving Day parade drunk.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Calling himself Kris Kringle, he\u2019s determined to change little Susan Walker\u2019s mind about Santa. She doesn\u2019t believe in him, an idea passed down by her mother Dorey (Perkins, Big), still bitter over Susan\u2019s father walking out on them. She doesn\u2019t want her daughter believing in fantasies, believing it will do harm when she learns the truth. Dorey\u2019s in a kind-of romantic relationship with her neighbor, a lawyer named Bryan (McDermott, FBI: Most Wanted).<\/p>\n

\u00a0Kris becomes an instant success at Cole\u2019s with both the children (they believe he\u2019s the real deal) and their mothers. By directing them to other stores where they can purchase the desired toys at a better price, he brings more customers to the store with a heart. This doesn\u2019t please the folks at Shopper\u2019s Express, the rival department store across the street. They\u2019re looking to buy out Cole\u2019s and this sudden surge of luck will drive up the price. The president of the rival store (Ackland, Lethal Weapon 2) orders his people to find a way to discredit Kris after he turns down their offer to work at their store. It ultimately results in a court hearing to determine whether or not Santa Claus exists.<\/p>\n

\u00a0What\u2019s interesting about Miracle on 34th<\/sup> Street<\/strong> is that it\u2019s often marketed as a family film and while that\u2019s true to some extent, I\u2019m not so sure it\u2019s suitable for young children. There\u2019s nothing too offensive in it, just some mild swearing and a scene where a man gets bopped over the head with a cane (he deserves it). There\u2019s also a quick shot of drunken Santa\u2019s butt crack peeking over his pants. Parents should be more concerned about putting the idea that there is no Santa Claus into their children\u2019s minds. More than one character in the movie suggests this. Now all of this is predicated on whether or not the children even understand what\u2019s going on with the climactic court case. I\u2019m not so sure the average 6YO even understands concepts like \u201cmental competency\u201d and the legal system as it relates to such things. This could be why it did a belly flop at the box office.<\/p>\n

Personally, I think this Miracle on 34th<\/sup> Street<\/strong> is a pretty good movie. Young Ms. Wilson is precocious and reasonably adorable as Susan. I would say no kid in the real world behaves like this, but I\u2019ve seen Savannah in action so there goes that argument right out the window. Perkins and McDermott are okay even though they don\u2019t really generate much in the way of chemistry. J.T. Walsh (Breakdown) is suitably mean as the prosecutor who tries to commit Kris to the state mental institution.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The cast is decent overall, but this show belongs to Mr. Attenborough. I like that the makers don\u2019t feel obligated to make him fat as well as jolly. It\u2019s the 90s and Miracle on 34th<\/sup> Street<\/strong> doesn\u2019t call for fat jokes. Leave that for the Tim Allen movie. It\u2019s a relatively serious movie, but it\u2019s also nice. It\u2019s sweet without being schmaltzy. It delivers its message about having faith without being preachy. It\u2019ll never be the perennial classic the 1947 original is, but it makes for pleasant viewing for families with kids old enough to know the \u201ctruth\u201d about St. Nick.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Miracle on 34th Street (1994)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 20th Century Fox\/Drama-Fantasy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 114 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (some mild language, alcohol use and drunkenness)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Les Mayfield\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: George Seaton and John Hughes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Bruce Broughton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Julio Macat\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: November 18, 1994 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Richard Attenborough, Mara Wilson, Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott, J.T. Walsh, Simon Jones, Joss […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8728,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dramas","category-holiday-movies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Miracle-on-34th-Street-1994.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8495"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8730,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8495\/revisions\/8730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}