Tim Allen in Santa Clause 3: The Escaue Clause: Entertainment for Kids and Grown Up Kids

Just in time for the pre-holiday season is the third installment in the successful "Santa Clause" series starring Tim Allen. If you recall from the first film, Allen accidentally scared Santa off his roof and when he tried the suit on he slowly turned into old St. Nick himself. The second film involved Santa having to find a wife. Both films were utterly charming and perfect film fare for the whole family. The third film continues the series infusing enough laughs and charm for kids of all ages while adults can enjoy the film and not feel slighted.

"Santa Clause 3 - The Escape Clause" picks up with Santa and Mrs. Claus about to become parents for the first time. Things are hectic for Santa as Christmas Eve is near and he isn't spending enough time with the wife. The remedy? Santa goes back to Earth and brings his in-laws to the North Pole to be with their daughter. Of course he can't let on they are on the North Pole so he arranges for everyone to pretend it is Canada. Everyone says "eh" at the end of a sentence and store signs have been changed to fool them. It's a cute idea that runs thin a lot sooner then the filmmakers are willing to admit. Santa even brings the Sandman down with him so the in-laws will sleep through the trip to the North Pole.

Another issue is Santa's ex-wife's daughter. She knows Allen's real identity and insists on coming to the North Pole as well. Reluctantly Allen agrees and brings along the ex-wife and second husband (Judge Reinhold) for good measure. Apparently the actor who played Allen's son in the first two movies must have had other commitments as his part is reduced to little more then a cameo here.

Jack Frost is also on hand to complicate everything even further then it already is. Frost is jealous of Santa and wishes to become Santa himself. Through some trickery he finally gets his wish and we are treated to an "It's A Wonderful Life" style sequence in which we see what the years have been like with Frost as Santa. As you can imagine things aren't quite as nice as before. The North Pole is now a resort and parents have to pay to put their child on the nice list to ensure getting presents. All the elves are so depressed none of them smile anymore. Frost puts on a stage show that is garish at the very least. It's up to Allen to get the Santa suit back on.

"Santa Clause 3" is lightweight entertainment that often hits its intended targets even if the targets are not very high. Allen does his usual commendable job but Martin Short plays Jack Frost with absolute relish and has his best role in years. Ann-Margret and Alan Arkin give serviceable performances as the in-laws but aren't really given that much to do. We also get repeated glimpses of Cupid, Mother Nature and Father Time.

Though not quite as good as the first two films, part three still offers plenty of laughs for its intended audience. Kids will likely be entertained by the visuals of the North Pole including a terrific sequence in a "music box" room where all of Santa's prized music boxes magically float freely amongst one another. Little kids will likely be amused by the flatulence problem of one of Santa's reindeer but, thankfully, director Michael Lembeck does not belabor it. The film celebrates the magic of life and of lives about to enter this world and does it in a clean and friendly manner. It's perfect holiday entertainment though I wonder why it wasn't released a little closer to Christmas?

Since I was a child I have always been a sucker for live action G-rated movies, especially the Disney films of the 70's. It isn't often that we get a G-rated live action film anymore, as studios fear the rating is a kiss of death. "Santa Clause 3" will entertain children of all ages and those of us who are still children in our hearts.