Sunday, November 11, 2007

Fred Claus

Is Vince Vaughn strong enough to carry a PG movie? No, he is not. And really what the hell man? Of all the topline comedic actors out there right now, he is the last one that I would look to tone his act down to PG level. Yet here is Fred Claus to undercut his skill and deliver a by-the-book family oriented holiday film. And those last 7 words means I am not a fan.

In the end Fred Claus felt like the outline was written, Santa’s sketchy older brother runs amuck, then the cameras were turned on and Vince was expected to do all the work. He tried hard and gets a couple of those Vince Vaughn scenes, his first scene berating the girl after repossessing her television and … I can’t think of anything else. It is all just a blur of bland jokes that you see all the time. If it weren’t for the couple of truly interesting moments, Siblings Anonymous with Frank Stallone, Roger Clinton, and Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Spacey wearing a Superman cape, Elizabeth Banks’ outfit, and that’s about it. There was some chemistry with Vaughn and Paul Giamatti as the Claus brothers. In fact I liked Giamatti as the worn down Santa who is trying to hold on to his job. And that is Kevin Spacey lending his credibility as the man trying to shutdown the North Pole. All of the roles are filled by talented folks; John Michael Higgins, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates, Ludacris, and Miranda Richardson all do fine. Its just that there wasn't anything to work with.

Overall the casting was not the problem, it was the story and the jokes. Nothing really made sense, not that the story needed to be airtight, but how does Spacey have the power to end Christmas? Why is Rachel Weisz a meter maid in Chicago with a British accent? Do people really emigrate from England for that profession? And, damn, Kathy Bates was just about the worse mother ever and she never learns her lesson. What the heck is that? And after about the third normal sized guy in an elf’s world joke I checked out. Plus I don’t think I need to elaborate how I am just not a guy who enjoys PG rated comedies.


So, yeah, Fred Claus is not a good movie. I am a Vince Vaughn fan but I am not a blind loyalist to anyone and I cannot honestly say this was worthwhile. There is a reason why I ignore PG movies like the plague and Fred Claus just reinforces that rule in my head.

4 out of 10

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