From Deseret News archives:

Fred Claus

Published: Friday, Nov. 9, 2007 11:05 a.m. MST
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
FRED CLAUS — ** — Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Kevin Spacey; rated PG (violence, vulgarity, mild profanity)

"Fred Claus" wants to be both naughty and nice — and still get some sort of present.

There are a couple of things here that are a little too rude and crude for a PG-rated film, and the movie's redemptive moments at the end don't seem particularly genuine.

And this comedy — which is more than a little reminiscent of Tim Allen's "Santa Clause" franchise — is nearly two hours, overstaying its welcome by at least 20 minutes.

Ultimately, your level of enjoyment of this so-so comedy may depend on how you feel about motor-mouthed Vince Vaughn. He stars as the title character, the black-sheep older brother of Nicholas Claus, aka Santa (Paul Giamatti).

Fred has recently run afoul of the law and has asked Santa to bail him out of jail — and to spot him $50,000 for a "business opportunity."

Surprisingly, Santa agrees, though the loan comes with a price — Fred must spend the Christmas holidays working for the toy-manufacturing operation at the North Pole. As you might expect, Fred slacks off and even organizes some elf misbehavior.

Story continues below
And as it turns out, his antics couldn't come at a worse time. An overzealous efficiency expert (Kevin Spacey) has come to oversee, and perhaps close down, Santa's business if he doesn't like what he sees.

The brotherly squabbles between Vaughn and Giamatti fuel the movie's best moments, though a romance subplot involving Vaughn and Rachel Weisz does have some charm.

It doesn't help that director David Dobkins has overpopulated his film with too many characters. A subplot about the relationship between an elf (John Michael Higgins) and Santa's assistant (Elizabeth Banks) is cute but unnecessary. Likewise, a gag featuring a support group for underachieving siblings — Frank Stallone, Roger Clinton, Stephen Baldwin — doesn't really come to much.

That leaves precious little time for such talented people as Kathy Bates and Miranda Richardson, as Santa's mother and wife, respectively.

"Fred Claus" is rated PG for slapstick violence (pratfalls, brawling, snowball fights and vehicular mayhem), a few vulgar gags (including toilet humor and sexual references), and scattered mild profanity (mostly religiously based). Running time: 114 minutes.


E-mail: jeff@desnews.com

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

Movie Info
Rated PG for violence, mild profanity, vulgarity.

Cast: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, Elizabeth Banks, John Michael Higgins, Kevin Spacey
FIND LOCAL MOVIE SHOWTIMES
Image
Jaap Buitendjik, Warner Bros.

Vince Vaughn stars as Santa's underachieving brother, Fred, in the new comedy, "Fred Claus."

previousnext

Latest comments

Real Champions

This could very well be the best week of my life.. IF BYU DOWNS UTAH THIS...

Reagon's stock will continue to go down as time moves forward and history...

Congrats RSL!! With being new to the area, can anyone tell me if there will...

'Now, will someone give me an example of how gay marriage will affect...

Real Champions

RIMANDO SAVES!! Great job by nick Rimando and everyone else who stepped up...

Sorry, Fred, Waldfogel is out to lunch. He claims that a gift is wasteful...

'Churches, leaders have right to speak out on public policy debates' I...

Reagan much-beloved in Utah

Ronald Reagan was the greatest President of the 20th Century. If you care to...

JR, in this very paper it was pointed out that organized Christianity led to...

Letters: Scrap Utah's flat tax

Fred Ash, you know something, your 100% right, Utah's state Legislature...

Advertisements