Off Season

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Off Season ★★½ 2001

A Christmas movie set in July or, rather, a spirit of Christmas movie set in July. Recently orphaned Jackson (Culkin) is now living with his Aunt Patty in Florida. She tends bar in a tacky hotel where they also live and Jackson likes to make up stories about the guests. He decides that cranky Sam Clausner (Cronyn) is actually Santa Claus on vacation, although the elderly man is more Scrooge-like than jolly. Then hotel manager Mel Breskin (McBeath) gets the idea to use Jackson's tall tale in a tasteless promotion scheme and things just snowball from there. 95m/C VHS, DVD . Rory Culkin, Hume Cronyn, Sherilyn Fenn, Tom McBeath, Adam Arkin, Bruce Davison; D: Bruce Davison; W: Glen Gers; C: Tony Westman; M: Daniel Licht. CABLE