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Movies / On DVD / Fred Claus
Fred Claus

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Fred Claus (2007)

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Reviews Counted:134

Fresh:28

Rotten:106

Average Rating:4.2/10

Consensus: A slew of talent is wasted in this contrived and overly sentimental Christmas film, which can't quite get the balance between slapstick humor and sentimental family moments.

Runtime: 1 hr 56 mins

Genre: Childrens

US Box Office: $71,970,547

Synopsis: Sibling rivalry takes on a new dimension in director David Dobkin's (WEDDING CRASHERS, CLAY PIGEONS) third collaboration with actor Vince Vaughn, FRED CLAUS. Ever since his younger brother,... Sibling rivalry takes on a new dimension in director David Dobkin's (WEDDING CRASHERS, CLAY PIGEONS) third collaboration with actor Vince Vaughn, FRED CLAUS. Ever since his younger brother, Nicholas (Paul Giamatti), was born, it seems that nothing Fred Claus (Vince Vaughn) does is good enough. Nicholas literally becomes a saint and is beloved by millions worldwide, but Fred is just a regular Joe. When Fred finds himself in need of big money in a hurry, little brother Santa is the only one he can turn to. Soon, Fred is working at the North Pole to earn some quick cash and shaking things up with the elves to the delight of efficiency expert Clyde Northcutt (Kevin Spacey), who is on a mission to close down Santa's operation. Can the dueling Claus brothers work together to save Christmas? A sweet lesson is thrown in amongst the sibling rivalry and hijinx: there are really no naughty children at Christmas, just kids who may need a little or love or a second chance. Vaughn plays a character familiar to us now, fast-talking but likable with good intentions. He's at his best when teaching the elves the merits of rock & roll, or talking himself out of sticky situations. Giamatti is endearing as Santa Claus, who compensates for the stress of his job by overeating. Spacey's emotionally frozen Clyde Northcutt harks back to WILLY WONKA's Slugworth as a villain. Frank Stallone, Roger Clinton, and Stephen Baldwin appear in the film's funniest scene as siblings with rivalry issues. Rounding at the cast are Miranda Richardson as Santa's wife, Kathy Bates as Mother Claus, Elizabeth Banks as Santa's assistant, John Michael Higgins as Wiilie the Head Elf, Rachel Weisz as Fred's girlfriend, and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as DJ Donnie. [More]

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, Elizabeth Banks

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, Elizabeth Banks, John Michael Higgins, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates, Kevin Spacey, Trevor Peacock, Ludacris

Director: David Dobkin

Director: David Dobkin
Screenwriter: Dan Fogelman
Story: Jessie Nelson, Dan Fogelman
Producer: Joel Silver, Jessie Nelson, David Dobkin
Composer: Christophe Beck
Studio: Warner Bros.

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Fred Claus

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121 - 137 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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An engaging idea gets mostly lost amid underdeveloped characters, a pointless subplot and creepy CGI.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
11/08/07
Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece
Film Journal International

By trying to be both naughty and nice, it exhibits a split personality...the mixture of the jaded and the juvenile just doesn't gel.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
11/08/07
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

[A] silly flick that's just a little bit profound in its goofiness, [a] wonderland of schtick that touches on the dark flipside of all the ho-ho-ho and enforced jolliment of the Holiday Season(TM).

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
11/08/07
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

Vince Vaughn is Superman.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
11/08/07
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

John Michael Higgins is disturbingly shrunken a la Lord of the Rings. How does the Actors' Union of Little People, if there is such a thing, feel about this?

Full Review Source: Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) | comment Comment
11/08/07
Josh Larsen
Josh Larsen
Sun Publications (Chicago, IL)

The film's multitude of flaws might be more easily forgiven if the movie didn't overstay its welcome by at least a half-hour.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
11/08/07
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

the film does score points for being big and shiny, featuring some very funny moments and a warm-and-fuzzy ending that will appeal to all but the biggest Scrooges out there.

Full Review Source: Sean the Movie Guy | comment Comment
11/07/07
Sean McBride
Sean McBride
Sean the Movie Guy

Veers awkwardly from shrill, slapsticky physical humour to diabolical meanness (courtesy of Spacey as an efficiency expert) to reheated, snuggly sentiments about the importance of love and family.

Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
11/07/07
Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire
Associated Press

Constructed like a rattling Santa sack of stocking stuffers, most of them plastic, doled out with little confidence about what adults want from a jingle-bell comedy (we want Elf!), and even less about what engages a kid (they want Elf!).

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
11/07/07
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly

A holiday fable far too safe and toothless to take advantage of Vince Vaughn's ribald strengths.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
11/06/07
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine

With Santa Claus movies like Fred Claus, who needs Ebenezer Scrooge?

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
11/06/07
Kirk Honeycutt
Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter

The exceptional cast -- Vaughn, Giamatti, Kathy Bates, Kevin Spacey, Rachel Weisz -- is an embarrassment of riches for a script this thin and this beholden to family-fare protocol, with its mushy-minded moral and slick sentimentality.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
11/06/07
Ed Halter
Ed Halter
Village Voice

Not only surpassed the lame promises of its advertisements, it proved to be one of the best films I've seen all year. Has that rare wonderful mix of warmth, depth, and funny.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment 2 Comments
11/06/07
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

The burden of having a famous sibling seems fraught with comedic possibilities, but whatever potential existed has been squandered and then some in Fred Claus, dumping coal into everyone's holiday stocking.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
11/06/07
Brian Lowry
Brian Lowry
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

So calculated in its sentimentality that it almost feels cynical.

Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | comment Comment
11/04/07
Katey Rich
Katey Rich
CinemaBlend.com

FRED CLAUS is from the 'of course' school of formulaic filmmaking, but it makes a good job of a tough sell

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
11/03/07
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

Not a flake on the ground and we already have our first lump of coal.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment 1 Comment
07/12/07
Joshua Rothkopf
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York
 
 
121 - 137 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
all

Latest News for Fred Claus

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It's Friday, there's a new raft of movies in the UK cinemas this week, but are any of them any good? This week the UK film hacks give us their opinions on Clint Eastwood's... More...

November 24, 2008: RT on DVD: Fred Claus, Hancock, and 24: Redemption
The holidays are upon us, which makes it a perfect week to snuggle up with the superhero (Hancock), the spirited (Fred Claus), or the stealthy (Keifer Sutherland as Jack Bauer... More...

November 23, 2008: Don't make the mistake of misreading this mean-spirited production as a kid-friendly Christmas flick. Opens in new window
More...

November 22, 2008: Vince Vaughn's famously rude Wedding Crasher gets macho with Ludacris as a m-igitalized feisty Santa elf, while huddling over the pint-sized urinals in the john with another, to clue him about North Pole dirty dancing and romance. Opens in new window
More...

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