|
'Fred Claus' movie review |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Roger Moore, MCT
|
|
Wednesday, 07 November 2007 |
|
|
|
|
 ___
FRED CLAUS
3 stars (out of 5)
Cast: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Kevin Spacey, Kathy Bates, Rachel Weisz
Director: David Dobkin
Running time: 1 hour 48 minutes
Industry rating: PG for mild language and some rude humor
___
What's the over-under on "Fred Claus," the first big "Christmas" movie of the holiday season?
Overlong, overdone, over-produced.
The actors? Three, count `em three Oscar winners.
So, yeah, over-cast.
But, friend, you may find yourself wondering how we ever survived the holidays without a Christmas dose of Vince, a little "Wedding Crashers for the Holidays."
This PG-rated farce from the director of "Wedding Crashers" falls just short of "romp," but it isn't Vince Vaughn's fault. He riffs, bops, hustles and charms.
Vaughn plays Santa's long-resentful older brother, Fred, a bitter guy who fled the enchanted forest where the saintly Nicolas and the almost-as-sweet Fred grew up. Mom (Oscar-winner Kathy Bates) tried her best, but everybody knew who was her favorite.
Nick (Paul Giamatti) married, put on weight and was made a saint. Fred moved to Chicago, learned to talk entirely too fast and hustled his way to repo-man mediocrity. What could the lovely meter maid Wanda (Oscar winner Rachel Weisz) see in him?
Fred speed-trashes his sibling every chance he gets, even to little kids.
"He covets the spotlight, man. He's a fame junky. The guy's a clown, a megalomaniac. Don't drink that Kool-Aid. Don't be a cheerleader for Santa Claus!"
But Fred needs cash. Santa invites him to the North Pole for a few days, gives him a job reading the "naughty" and "nice" reports for, well, Earth. He'd better be careful because the efficiency expert from "the Board" (Oscar winner Kevin Spacey, goofing on his Lex Luthor turn) is looking over his shoulder, ready to shut this whole operation down.
Sure, it's about "saving Christmas," or at least the secular Santa version of it. It's about getting out of the shadow of a sibling, settling old family grudges and thinking of others before yourself.
But the comedy comes mostly from the big-mouthed big guy mixing it up with all the little people. Two words for you: Ninja elves.
The settings are "Polar Express" elaborate. A few digitally altered full-sized actors (John Michael Higgins of "Best in Show" is sled-driver Willy, Ludacris is the North Pole's DJ) blend in with dwarf actors to fill this toy land. And Elizabeth Banks makes the most fetching Santa's Little Helper ever.
Vaughn does this befuddled insta-rage thing as well as anybody in the movies. But his real gift is in making every line, every strung-together, strung-out riff, feel like an inspired off-the-cuff improvisation, even the "Wedding Crashers" advice to the elves, whom he introduces to the music of Elvis.
"Let's make some bad decisions!"
And if you thought The Rock laid it all out there in a family-friendly way for his early fall hit, "The Game Plan," he's got nothing on Vince, who dances, wrestles little people and just plain works it.
Director David Dobkin cleans up his "Wedding Crashers" act and plays to his star's strengths, staging a terrific Salvation-Army-Santas chase through Chicago in an early scene, hurling Vaughn into a big dance number, pairing him up with Weisz, who slips into an "East Enders" accent and holds her own with the Windy City Windbag.
The energy flags, as it must, in a movie that's basically a clone of Tim Allen's "The Santa Clause" with his "Christmas with the Kranks," a movie that panders to the holiday "spirit," but only after mocking it, big time.
So yeah, it's overkill in the extreme, from the impressive sled-flying effects to the big-dollar cast. Did they really need Miranda Richardson as Mrs. Claus, or Banks or Ludacris or even someone of Weisz's caliber in those supporting parts?
No. But as overdone as it all is, the jabs at kids' ever-lengthening wish lists, at judging the "naughty" without understanding why, the realization that Salvation Army Santas may have tempers, too, all make "Fred Claus," excessive as it is, refreshingly overdue.
| Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. |
|
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
| |
|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
|
|
