Santa Claus goes on trial for shooting his brother in this zany legal thriller from Edgar-winner Breen (Eye of God
). Of course, he's not really Santa, he's Charlie Baines, a big (unnamed) city philanthropist viewed as its official Santa Claus. Charlie is accused of murdering Andrew, his Grinch-like brother, who was planning to tear down a historic theater. A bloodied white Santa beard was left at the crime scene. Prosecution leader Melba “Jumping-Jack” Wooten, a former WNBA basketball star, faces off against a defense team led by hotshot Gordon Moon, who considers himself a “white Johnnie Cochran.” Breen peppers the proceedings with courtroom antics, loosely reworking the trial scenes in Miracle on 34th Street
as if they were conducted by Boston Legal
–style lawyers. Going for laughs more than poignancy, Breen adds a candy cane twist in the form of a mysterious newspaper informant known as Deep Snow. (Feb.)
