Review of Christmas with the Kranks (2004) by Marcy B — 05 Feb 2008

This movie was terrible. The acting was bad. The writing was bad. The cinematography was bad. The settings were bad. The effects were bad. Overall, cinematically, this movie was about as poor as they come.

That being said, I absolutely love this movie.

Of all the terrible Christmas movies out there (Four Christmases, Deck the Halls, Fred Claus)this is the one that actually got all of the spirit across. I know the argument is that it promotes conformity, but it also satirizes conformity in many ways. Anyway, Norah and Luther Krank actually protest the conformity of Christmas and only change their minds when they realize that Blair is coming home. They want to celebrate Christmas then because of the family side of the holidays, not the conformity.

Also, the last few scenes actually got me a little emotional. Sure there's a lot wrong with this movie, but there's also so much right about it that's often times overlooked.

I find this movie charming and Christmasy from first to last and a perfectly fine film to watch with the family.

6/10.