Zooey was the highlight

Rating: 3/10 (8 December 2012)

I watched this mainly because of Zooey. She's beautiful and the scene where she's singing in the shower was the best scene in the film. The salute to the old classic puppetry animation Christmas specials near the beginning was superb. The snowball fight was pretty cool. There is quite a few scenes in this that had great potential. What's wrong with this film is simple. Casting Will Ferrell in the lead severely damaged what could have been a hysterical Christmas comedy. People are being overly nice to it because it's a holiday film. There is a lot of talent here; Zooey Deschanel, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, even the kid is good. Unfortunately Will Ferrell wasn't any good. He isn't funny.
I guess Jim Carrey cost too much or something. He was brilliant in The Grinch and in A Christmas Carol. He even worked with Zooey in Yes Man and their chemistry was right on the money. This should have starred Jim. Jim Carrey in the lead would have made the film much better and definitely much funnier.
Anyway, to sum up, don't expect to laugh at Will unless your intent is to pass on sympathy for his unfunny performance since it is a holiday film.