Dear Santa would get bonus points if it had the guts to actually give itself the title it deserves… and post that all over Paramount+, social media, and the internet as a whole. But it doesn’t and it doesn’t even have the courage to put horns on Jack Black’s fuzzy mug in the poster. For shame. For literal shame.

Dear Santa is allegedly a Christmas movie about a dyslexic kid who accidentally writes a letter to Satan. And before you can say “yeah, this movie’s rough”, Old Scratch shows up in his room instead of St. Nick.

This flick gets by solely on the energy of Jack Black as the devil. And even that’s a pretty one note joke. But I was marginally entertained enough to let the movie plod along without hating it… too much.

Also – and I’m not sure to put this in the naughty or nice bucket – it has a Special Appearance by Post Malone. I guess he wasn’t busy that day or is really pushing for an acting career since he allows himself to be used and abused by the film’s version of hero worship.

I wish there was more actual Christmas in this Christmas movie but it’s really more like a modern day evil Aladdin. Satan doesn’t actually do anything Christmas-y, instead offering three wishes to the kid in exchange for his soul. Add in a decent amount of cocked eyebrow tasteless jokes and I have to wonder who the target audience even is. I mean, how many Christmas movies can you name with pedophilia jokes?

I’m not sure why I’m being charitable with my rating other than the season and residual Jack Black fondness. This is a pretty mediocre movie but with just a touch of… charm? Let’s go with charm. Sure. Why not?

Score: 70