An engaging idea gets mostly lost amid underdeveloped characters, a pointless subplot and creepy CGI.
Fred Claus (2007)
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Reviews Counted:134
Fresh:28
Rotten:106
Average Rating:4.2/10
Consensus: A slew of talent is wasted in this contrived and overly sentimental Christmas film, which can't quite get the balance between slapstick humor and sentimental family moments.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for mild language and some rude humor.
Runtime: 1 hr 56 mins
Genre: Childrens
Theatrical Release:30-11-2007
Synopsis: Sibling rivalry takes on a new dimension in director David Dobkin's (WEDDING CRASHERS, CLAY PIGEONS) third collaboration with actor Vince Vaughn, FRED CLAUS. Ever since his younger brother,... Sibling rivalry takes on a new dimension in director David Dobkin's (WEDDING CRASHERS, CLAY PIGEONS) third collaboration with actor Vince Vaughn, FRED CLAUS. Ever since his younger brother, Nicholas (Paul Giamatti), was born, it seems that nothing Fred Claus (Vince Vaughn) does is good enough. Nicholas literally becomes a saint and is beloved by millions worldwide, but Fred is just a regular Joe. When Fred finds himself in need of big money in a hurry, little brother Santa is the only one he can turn to. Soon, Fred is working at the North Pole to earn some quick cash and shaking things up with the elves to the delight of efficiency expert Clyde Northcutt (Kevin Spacey), who is on a mission to close down Santa's operation. Can the dueling Claus brothers work together to save Christmas? A sweet lesson is thrown in amongst the sibling rivalry and hijinx: there are really no naughty children at Christmas, just kids who may need a little or love or a second chance. Vaughn plays a character familiar to us now, fast-talking but likable with good intentions. He's at his best when teaching the elves the merits of rock & roll, or talking himself out of sticky situations. Giamatti is endearing as Santa Claus, who compensates for the stress of his job by overeating. Spacey's emotionally frozen Clyde Northcutt harks back to WILLY WONKA's Slugworth as a villain. Frank Stallone, Roger Clinton, and Stephen Baldwin appear in the film's funniest scene as siblings with rivalry issues. Rounding at the cast are Miranda Richardson as Santa's wife, Kathy Bates as Mother Claus, Elizabeth Banks as Santa's assistant, John Michael Higgins as Wiilie the Head Elf, Rachel Weisz as Fred's girlfriend, and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as DJ Donnie. [More]
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, Elizabeth Banks
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, Elizabeth Banks, John Michael Higgins, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates, Kevin Spacey, Trevor Peacock, Ludacris
Director: David Dobkin
Director: David Dobkin
Screenwriter: Dan Fogelman
Story: Jessie Nelson, Dan Fogelman
Producer: Joel Silver, Jessie Nelson, David Dobkin
Composer: Christophe Beck
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for Fred Claus
By trying to be both naughty and nice, it exhibits a split personality...the mixture of the jaded and the juvenile just doesn't gel.
[A] silly flick that's just a little bit profound in its goofiness, [a] wonderland of schtick that touches on the dark flipside of all the ho-ho-ho and enforced jolliment of the Holiday Season(TM).
John Michael Higgins is disturbingly shrunken a la Lord of the Rings. How does the Actors' Union of Little People, if there is such a thing, feel about this?
The film's multitude of flaws might be more easily forgiven if the movie didn't overstay its welcome by at least a half-hour.
the film does score points for being big and shiny, featuring some very funny moments and a warm-and-fuzzy ending that will appeal to all but the biggest Scrooges out there.
Veers awkwardly from shrill, slapsticky physical humour to diabolical meanness (courtesy of Spacey as an efficiency expert) to reheated, snuggly sentiments about the importance of love and family.
Constructed like a rattling Santa sack of stocking stuffers, most of them plastic, doled out with little confidence about what adults want from a jingle-bell comedy (we want Elf!), and even less about what engages a kid (they want Elf!).
A holiday fable far too safe and toothless to take advantage of Vince Vaughn's ribald strengths.
The exceptional cast -- Vaughn, Giamatti, Kathy Bates, Kevin Spacey, Rachel Weisz -- is an embarrassment of riches for a script this thin and this beholden to family-fare protocol, with its mushy-minded moral and slick sentimentality.
Not only surpassed the lame promises of its advertisements, it proved to be one of the best films I've seen all year. Has that rare wonderful mix of warmth, depth, and funny.
The burden of having a famous sibling seems fraught with comedic possibilities, but whatever potential existed has been squandered and then some in Fred Claus, dumping coal into everyone's holiday stocking.
FRED CLAUS is from the 'of course' school of formulaic filmmaking, but it makes a good job of a tough sell
Not a flake on the ground and we already have our first lump of coal.
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November 23, 2008:
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November 22, 2008:
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