Miracle on 34th Street at Film Forum

Unlike its contemporary Christmas yarn, Frank Capra's masterful It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street is not a sophisticated or even a particularly well-executed movie: the acting is uneven, the editing hopeless, and the plot full of holes you could drive a sleigh through. But seeing it at Film Forum, where it opened for a brief run yesterday, we couldn't deny that it's a lot of fun, with a great central conceit and some terrific lines ("Maybe he's only a little crazy, like painters or composers or some of those men in Washington"). It also disabuses you of the notion that the commercialization of Christmas --- and complaining about the same --- is a recent phenomenon. But most importantly, it inspires a lot of holiday cheer, making the lights outside twinkle just a little bit brighter.

Photo: thanks