Klaus
2019
***
Director: Sergio Pablos
Cast: Jason Schwartzman, J. K. Simmons, Rashida Jones, Will Sasso, Neda Margrethe Labba, Sergio Pablos, Norm Macdonald, Joan Cusack
Jesper is a spoilt rich kid who must set up a postal service on a remote island of Smeerensburg, or risk losing his inheritance. The west of the island is divided between two feuding clans, and a lonely woodsman resides in the eastern parts. After a bumpy and somewhat boring start (Jesper is exhausting but not funny), this 2D animation gets its act together and ends up telling a moving but surprisingly materialistic origin story of the American version of Santa Claus and Christmas. The film's slogan is "A true act of goodwill always sparks another", but maybe it should actually be "When kids get stuff, everyone is happy".
