There are good intentions to spare in "Dear God," a sweet-natured, contemporary Christmas fable that would like to be the "Miracle On 34th Street" for the '90s.
Instead, however, it is a demonstration that Garry Marshall should retire from directing.
Marshall, a veteran television producer ("Happy Days," "Mork & Mindy," "The Odd Couple," etc.) and a hit-film director ("Pretty Woman'," "Beaches") has apparently lost whatever talent he once had.
This judgment is not made frivolously or simply on the basis of one lousy movie. It's made on the basis of two lousy movies. Marshall's most recent effort, "Exit to Eden," was also a mess.
In fact, like "Exit to Eden," "Dear God" is one of the sloppiest major-studio, A-director releases in recent memory. And by sloppy, I mean poor directing choices, ill-advised composition and camera movement (which sometimes actually undercuts the film's jokes), choppy editing, wrong acting choices and voice-over dialogue exchanges that seem like last-minute, desperate attempts to make the film more cohesive.
Greg Kinnear, fresh off his star-making supporting role in "Sabrina," proves that he has screen charm . . . but little acting ability. He needs a strong director — like Sydney Pollack in his first film — to guide him, and he doesn't get that kind of help here.
Kinnear has the lead role as a small-time con artist who is arrested during the downtown Los Angeles Christmas Parade and finds himself faced with a tough choice when the judge tells him he can either go to jail or get a full-time job for one year.
Somehow skipping past the civil service exam, Kinnear gets a job in the post office — in the dead letter office, to be precise. There, he is thrown in with a bundle of misfits, including Laurie Metcalf ("Rose-anne's" television sister) and Tim Conway (where's he been?).
The plot has Kinnear trying to come up with another scam, as he discovers a batch of letters to God. Instead, however, he accidentally mails the cash from his first paycheck to one of the letter-writers (an unbilled and unusually subdued Ellen Cleghorne).
Metcalf finds out what he did, and thinking it was an act of kindness, organizes the entire dead-letter staff to start performing anonymous good deeds for those who have written to God. Eventually, it has an effect on the entire city. But Kinnear, of course, is still working up a scam.
There is some potential here for an enjoyable film, but in addition to the problems listed above, Marshall can't settle on a tone. Does he want off-the-wall, wacky comedy? Or does he want heartwarming character comedy? Or maybe dark-tinged satire? It's a muddled mix at best.
In the midst of this, both Tim Conway, as a possibly psychotic former mail-carrier, and Hector Elizondo, low-key as their oft-disappearing Russian boss, manage to handily steal the show.
They are funny. But the film is not.
What a shame — and what a waste.
"Dear God" is rated PG for some comic violence, a few profanities and some vulgar gags.