Review of Miracle on 34th Street

I enjoyed the original movie which has since become a classic. When the movie was remade, I was excited about seeing an updated version. The remake is not heartwarming and this sort of movie should be heartwarming. Parts of the remake are very good and, with the exception of Richard Attenborough, all of the actors were very good. The much respected Mr. Attenborough just did not seem like Santa. I watched the movie this past Christmas with family and friends (about 20 of us) and discovered that I was not alone with my discomfort with the part of Santa. The children made comments about him that were surprisingly uncomplimentary. I'm sure the comments were not intended to be commentary on him as a person but almost everyone thought that another actor could have played the part better than he did. The end of the trial, while an interesting twist, did not quite come together well as in the original movie. The end of the movie did not bring a smile to my face. I really wanted to like this movie but after seeing it again, it still falls short. While the original movie is very dated, it remains the superior movie.