A family-oriented Christmas comedy written and directed by Christopher Smith (of Creep (2004) fame) originally released on December 5th, 2014 in the UK. Warner Bros. oversaw its domestic release while Altitude Film Sales distributed it internationally. Its cast notably includes Jim Broadbent, Rafe Spall, Warwick Davis, and Jodie Whittaker.
It's Christmas time in London, and inexplicably, the city is suddenly inundated with reindeer mysteriously wandering the streets. It is amidst this odd event that former petty criminal and Disappeared Dad Steve Anderson is released from prison on parole just in time to visit his son, Tom, for the holidays. But things take a sudden turn when he gets a call from Tom that "Santa" is hiding in the shed, and when Steve arrives, he finds that he's not joking around, and soon the fate of Christmas itself rests on his shoulders.
Get Santa contains examples of:
- Affably Evil: Ruth, despite her aggressive and constant threats to send Steve back to prison, chats very casually with him and even offers snacks during parole meetings.
- Chimney Entry: Besides the obvious example, Santa can also apparently magically receive letters and packages placed under fireplace chimneys.
- Christmas Elves: Santa's partners and the main inhabitants of Elf City.
- Christmas Songs: Unsurprisingly populates much of the soundtrack.
- Christmas Town: Elf City.
- But Thou Must!: Steve initially refuses to help Santa because he hasn't been presented with any proof that he isn't just a delusional old man, but Tom essentially forces him to go and help St. Nick, and Steve doesn't have any other choices open in his life at the moment.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Santa, especially when among the prisoners. Though it's understandable he comes off like this given this is apparently the first time he's been around people for well-over a hundred years.
- Disappeared Dad: Steve was this to Tom until the beginning of the film when he finally gets released from his prison sentence.
- The Ditz: Santa (combined with The Klutz), and to a lesser extent, Steve.
- Excuse Plot: The entire movie happens pretty much just because Santa happened to clip a fence with his sleigh and fall out during this one particular Christmas.
- First Father Wins: Steve rebuilds his relationship with his son over the course of the film, although he does reconcile with the stepdad, Tony, eventually.
- Felony Misdemeanor: The police launch a massive nationwide manhunt for Steve, and you'd think it'd be because he technically kidnaps the child he has shared custody of while out on parole, but his only stated crime is "suspected reindeer rustling".
- Gasshole: The reindeer - especially Dasher, to the point where he communicates in flatulence.
- Getaway Driver: Steve was one before being sent to prison and ends up becoming one again for Santa.
- Hide Your Otherness: Santa ditches his red suit and typical appearance in an attempt to blend in with the other prisoners after he gets locked up.
- Hollow Earth: This is implied by the map Steve and Tom follow through Santa's mail tubes, which shows an entirely new landmass below the surface that the tubes run through.
- I Never Told You My Name: When Steve jokingly calls Santa "Nick", Santa asks how he knew that it was his real name, to which Steve tells him about St. Nick.
- It Was with You All Along: What Santa says verbatim to Tom about his wish.
- Liar Revealed: Inverted in the beginning with no one believing Santa is who he says he is, but played straight when Santa tries to adopt a "normal" persona at Steve's suggestion.
- Human Mail: A giant subterranean mail chute is both how Steve and Tom get to Elf Town and how Santa receives his letters.
- New Parent Nomenclature Problem: Inverted, as Tom is initially reluctant to call Steve "dad".
- No Mere Windmill: Steve continually insists Santa is just a delusional old man until he mentions the Christmas wish he made as a child and the Rubix cube he gave him.
- The other prisoners also similarly dismiss Santa until he reveals all their Christmas wishes to them.
- Not Quite Flight: The reindeer can't actually fly by themselves, instead relying on the sleigh's magic dust.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Ruth, at least before she becomes an outright Rabid Cop later.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: A bizarre and subtle example is the barber, played by Liverpool-born Stephen Gram, who is apparently supposed to be Scottish but keeps continually slipping back into northern English.
- One Phone Call: Averted; despite several characters spending the film in prison, they all can seemingly make as many phone calls as they like (save for Santa when he gets put in solitary.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Steve, Tom, and Dasher the reindeer all don festival disguises to hide their identities after being wanted by the police, and this actually seems to fool everyone.
- Poor Communication Kills: Santa asking Tom to go find his dad instead of going to Steve himself leads to Steve mistaking Santa for a creepy old man squatting in Alison's garage and threatening to "knock his blocks off".
- Pounds Are Animal Prisons: The reindeer are initially kept at a pound before being moved to the park when Santa attempts to break them out, and it's basically just an open-air prison.
- Really 700 Years Old: Santa says he's "been old" for over a thousand years.
- Right-Hand Cat: Or Right-Hand Frog in Ruth's case.
- Saving Christmas: The premise of the whole film.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Santa seemingly has this ability, as he easily speaks with the guard dogs at the police lock-up. Subverted with his reindeer, who communicate with him from *ahem* the other end...
- Technical Pacifist: Santa, who refuses to harm anyone until the guard responsible for assigning him to solitary says he hates Christmas, to which Santa responds by punching him in the face
- Third-Act Misunderstanding: The barber reveals Santa is to be put in solitary to Steve, who inexplicably treats this as Santa slighting him even though he was never under any pretense of it not being the case.
- Third Act Stupidity resolves the situation though, with Santa getting broken out of prison and the police just not pursuing him until he and Steve regroup.
- Toilet Humor: As mentioned before, Dasher the reindeer communicates solely through farting, much to Steve's chagrin.
- Santa also has an automatic gun that fires reindeer dung, which he uses to immense effect during the final police chase.
- Weather Manipulation: Apparently the Aurora Borealis isn't actually a real product of the Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field, and is instead created by the elves in order to guide Santa during Christmas.
- We Interrupt This Program: A news broadcast does this in order to, of all things, announce that children across Australia have all woken up without presents on Christmas morning.
