Written by Erica Rose Jackson Mel Gibson stars and shines as a gritty Chris Cringle in Fatman, a brand new movie released to digital platforms on November 24th. Gibson’s Santa is not the one you’re used to and he’s not like Billy Bob Thornton’s Bad Santa either. This Chris Cringle has lost his Christmas Spirit and he’s ready for anything, I mean anything. The story centers around a spoiled young boy named Billy Wenan (played expertly by Chance Hurstfield) and his vendetta with Santa over receiving coal for Christmas. Billy, luckily, already has an assassin on hand for any occasion played by the incomparable Walter Goggings. Fatman offers Santa like you’ve never seen him before in this fun and dark Christmas action/comedy. Santa is barely breaking even to be able to continue his work because there are so many children on the naughty list. So, against his wishes, he agrees to a contract with the US Military and brings the elves back from break to get the project started. Gibson broke my heart in the scene where he explains to the elves what’s going to happen because you can tell he so genuinely doesn't want to do this. Mrs. Claus (Ruth), played beautifully by Marianne Jean-Baptiste, does her best to show her husband what good he does with his work while the military dangles a permanent contract in his face, worth the money he needs to keep going and more. Fatman has much more heart than you’d expect given the film’s premise. I don’t want to give too much away but Billy hires Goggins’ assassin to kill Santa which has been a lifelong dream of Goggins’ character, Skinny Man. Fatman offers laughs, action, and heart all within it’s modest run time of one hour and thirty-nine minutes. Between the Mondo Boys exceptional soundtrack and Ian Nelms’ work in the director’s chair, this movie is a Christmas masterpiece that will be enjoyed year after year. We can only hope that a sequel will come from this success of this film because Mel Gibson’s Santa has so many more stories to tell!
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