Review of Fred Claus (2007) by Jason M — 08 Mar 2010

First off, I was upset that it took so long for the film to come to DVD. I believe this debuted in theaters for Christmas in 2007. The DVD wasn't released until a year later. Then, upon watching the film, I could understand why.

Wow, was this pretty bad. I'm a Vince Vaughn fan, and a Kevin Spacey fanatic at times, but this project was doomed from the beginning. Don't get me wrong, the trailers leading up to the release were great, by what I can remember. All I recall is Vaughn and Giamatti (as Santa Clause) sitting on a couch, bickering like brothers do, which provided you with the supposed premise of the movie. The brother of Santa Clause who is considered the screw up. Done, sold, count me in. I was excited. Well, obviously not excited enough to see it in the theater. Still, I looked forward to the DVD release.

The movie I saw was a disappointment. I was rather disgusted by the effect they used to put actors faces on elves bodies. I mean, it was sloppy and distracting, and pointless. Don't get me wrong, one actor they did that with (John Michael Higgins) is one of my favorites, but they should have a different way to make it work. That's just my opinion.

The story itself is one where yes, the screw up brother visits and messes everything up, then finds a way to redeem himself in the end. Predictable? Yes. But, I would be willing to look past that predictability had the writing been better, and the characters more engaging. I felt like the film was trying to be too heavy handed, and preachy while wanting to be somewhat funny and edgy like other Vaughn films. It was trying to be too many things, and never settling on one and doing it correctly.

Like I said, I was left with a feeling of disappointment and to some degree, regret. I had anticipated seeing it so much, that to be let down like this yet again, made me feel like I can't trust myself any more. Overall, let me leave you with the recommendation of avoiding this movie if you can. It will do nothing to increase your enjoyment of the holidays, or make you want more holiday movies made.