Oh, sure. Most of you will claim this is nit-picking, but it's bothersome that Martin Short's Jack Frost never looks as cool in the movie Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause as he does on the poster. Throughout the film he appears pale, but never the complete frost man of the key art. It's a small point, but that kind of sloppiness runs through a family film that entertains decently enough, but could have, should have been much tighter and more memorable.

The franchise has all the pieces. After two films, Tim Allen's Scott Calvin/Santa Claus has already explored his need to connect with his son and a new wife. Now he's on the cusp of a new family with that wife, Carol (Elizabeth Mitchell), and the chance to get it all right weighs heavily on his mind.

At the same time, the attention-starved Frost schemes to raise his profile among legendary characters, and plots to replace Santa himself. It seems that somewhere in that contract (which itself seems to have disappeared from the mythos), Scott Calvin has an escape clause.

Instead of focusing on that, though, the script by Ed Decter and John J. Strauss works hard to cram in every character the franchise has introduced, plus a few more beyond the quite adequate villain. Thus subplots crowd each other out, leaving little room for the hook of the story that would attract more than children that just want to see the North Pole again.

Alan Arkin and Ann-Margret join the cast as Carol's parents, from whom it is absolutely essential that Santa Claus keep his secret, until such time as it is not. The movie plays murky with that concept. Both actors bring nice energy to their scenes, but their main beef with Scott rings basically false due to the previous films. Scott and Carol are too busy at the North Pole to visit, yet it's clear that Lucy (Liliana Mumy) sees "Uncle Scott" all the time, and knew him well long before he revealed his secret to her.

Again, just sloppy thinking.

Michael Lembeck directs with the same competence he brought to all of his television work, but he seemed more energetic with The Santa Clause 2 than here. This moves along at a gentle pace, but lacks any real sense of urgency. The rhythm is off for the climax, which rushes by without any real sense of thrill. Instead, Lembeck saves the most time for the obvious heart-tugging moment, hamhandedly telegraphed from early on.

Still, The Escape Clause has some charm. When Short gets to cut loose (not often enough), the movie lifts. He's one actor able to play menace with just the right balance to keep from scaring the snow out of the little ones. (The scariest element may be just how much Liliana Mumy looks like her father, Billy Mumy.) Having often played limelight hogs in his career, Short still gives it his all.

The production design gets a facelift as part of Scott's plan to disguise the North Pole as Canada. Some clever visual jokes fly by, and the set remains sumptuous. But it also feels somehow claustrophobic this time around, and Lembeck barely takes an opportunity to open up the action. Even back in "the real world," he stays interior and mostly in tight shots.

Kids will like it, but this movie lacks the spark for adults that the franchise started. The idea for this one could have had the most adult resonance, but it ends up as pale as Jack Frost.

Damn. His plan worked after all.

Rating:

Derek McCaw