The "Fatman" of the title is Santa Claus; yes, the 'real' one but as played by Mel Gibson he's no 'Ho Ho Ho' jolly old man in a red suit but a gruff old businessman with money troubles and a concerned wife, (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), and when he needs to be he's pretty handy with a gun. This alleged black comedy is clearly aimed at people like me whose favourite Christmas movie is "Bad Santa" but whereas that gem was genuinely funny and done in the worst possible taste while still managing to be sweetly sentimental thanks to a terrific performance from young Brett Kelly. This, however, is seriously short on laughs. Worse, it's poorly scripted, directed, acted and very violent; this is a Christmas movie clearly not aimed at children.
The plot, for want of a better word, has obnoxious rich kid Chance Hurstfield hiring hitman Walton Goggins to kill Santa after he leaves him just a lump of coal at Christmas. Meanwhile Santa and his elfs find themselves making parts for the U.S. military to make ends meet. Done well, this could have been inspired instead of the under-cooked turkey it turns out to be. In fact, rather than watch this rubbish revisit "Bad Santa" or even watch "It's a Wonderful Life" for the 40th time or just go to bed early and hope that Santa brings you something more than a lump of coal.
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