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Movies / On DVD / Christmas with the Kranks
Christmas with the Kranks

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Christmas with the Kranks (2004)

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Reviews Counted:9

Fresh:1

Rotten:8

Average Rating:3.5/10

Consensus: A mirthless movie as fresh as last year's fruit cake, Christmas with the Kranks is a course, garish comedy that promotes conformity.

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: The Kranks have always celebrated a picture-perfect Christmas. But with their only daughter, Blair (Julie Gonzalo), away from home on her Peace Corps assignment, Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Luther... The Kranks have always celebrated a picture-perfect Christmas. But with their only daughter, Blair (Julie Gonzalo), away from home on her Peace Corps assignment, Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Luther (Tim Allen) are suffering from empty nest syndrome and decide to skip Christmas in favor of a Caribbean cruise. But their neighbors, led by Vic Frohmeyer (Dan Akroyd), take Christmas very seriously and are none too happy about the Kranks' boycott. In this neighborhood where every house is decorated to the hilt and has a Frosty on the roof, skipping Christmas is virtually a crime. And just as the Kranks are preparing for their Christmas Day departure, they get a call from their daughter who announces that she is coming home for Christmas after all. Suddenly, all systems are go for their annual Christmas Eve party and a normal--highly festive--holiday. Will the Kranks be able to pull together a perfect Christmas for Blair in just a few hours, or will she discover their plan to skip Christmas? Directed by Joe Roth (AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS) and based on a John Grisham novel, this film also features appearances by Cheech Marin, Caroline Rhea, and Felicity Huffman. [More]

Starring: Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, Erik Per Sullivan

Starring: Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, Erik Per Sullivan, Cheech Marin, Jake Busey, M. Emmet Walsh

Director: Joe Roth

Director: Joe Roth
Screenwriter: Chris Columbus
Producer: Chris Columbus, Mark Radcliffe, Michael Barnathan
Composer: John Debney
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment

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Reviews for Christmas with the Kranks

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1 - 8 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Christmas With The Kranks is the sort of film that leaves you thinking Ebenezer Scrooge might have had the right idea about the festive season.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
07/20/09
Richard Luck
Richard Luck
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

With clumsy sight gags the only humour on offer, the temptation to mutter 'Bah humbug' is overwhelming.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Anna Smith
Anna Smith
Time Out
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[A] comedy so broad it barely dents its targets and a patronising moral conclusion that goes against everything its protagonists originally stood for.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Anna Smith
Anna Smith
Empire Magazine
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See Joe Roth's movie and you'll understand the true demeaning of Christmas.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
12/07/04
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
BBC
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It's a colossal miscalculation.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
11/24/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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A flat parable.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
11/23/04
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
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An agreeable, if snowflake-thin stocking stuffer faithfully adapted from John Grisham's 2001 bestseller Skipping Christmas.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
11/23/04
Scott Foundas
Scott Foundas
Variety
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Lockstep suburban conformism enforced with fascist severity is the ugly (but admittedly sometimes funny) joke driving Joe Roth's family comedy.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
11/23/04
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
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A peculiar and at times even sour tale about the tyranny of Christmas.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
11/23/04
Kirk Honeycutt
Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter
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1 - 8 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Christmas with the Kranks

December 20, 2007: Vatican Gloats Over Weak Performance of The Golden Compass
Attention, filmgoers who have seen and enjoyed The Golden Compass: According to The Vatican, you're either "dishonest" or you haven't been "gifted with a critical spirit." More...

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This week at the movies brings us the profound discoveries of a great Kazak journalist ("Borat," starring Sacha Baron Cohen), a battle between Santa and Jack Frost... More...

December 15, 2005: Critical Consensus: A Sly "Family Stone," A Towering "Kong"
This week at the movies, we have a giant ape {"King Kong"} and some yuletide dramedy ("The Family Stone"). Will the critics go bananas for these flicks? More...

October 20, 2005: Trailer Bulletin: Freedomland
From director Joe Roth and screenwriter Richard Price comes "Freedomland," an apparently racially-charged kidnapping thriller that stars Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne... More...

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