Jeff Fahey, John Rhys-Davies, Judd Nelson, Heather Morris
Having lived his entire minor years in an orphanage in Derry, Ireland, twenty-five year old Pat Keely is an illegal immigrant in the US, he having got off the boat on which he was working on a whim in New York City a year ago. He is thankful for the kindness of Joe O'Brian who offered him a job as a dishwasher in his Irish pub. But in the lead up to Christmas, Joe asks Pat to make a delivery of two suitcases for him, which in combination with other things he's recently seen makes Pat come to the realization that Joe is a gangster. Working on fear of being caught by the police, and adrenaline, Pat, with the two suitcases in hand, decides to go on the run, as far as his pocket money will take him: Santa Fe. While Pat tries to survive with what little funds he has, he telephones Joe to tell him what happened, telephoning being a mistake which Pat realizes immediately after the fact. Joe decides to send two of his thugs, Jim and Seb, to Santa Fe to deal with Pat and retrieve the suitcases, of which Pat is unaware. What Pat, Jim and Seb are in turn further unaware is that two FBI agents are following Jim and Seb to Santa Fe in knowing they being Joe's thugs. When Pat finally decides to open the suitcases, he has mixed emotions in both being exhilarated, but fearing more for his life, he believing in that fear that he can hide in plain sight when Emily Gresham, a events coordinator at a local shopping mall, hires him as the mall's Santa. What Pat may not further be aware is that things have been placed in motion for him to fulfill the destiny that was bestowed on him when he first arrived at the orphanage.—Huggo