[Vaughn's] naughtiness has never seemed so approachably nice.
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.
Reviews for Fred Claus
The idea that Santa Claus... is getting the life lessons and not giving them is the surest indicator of how crass this movie is.
It may not be brilliant, but it's easily the best holiday movie since Elf...
Paul Giamatti's oddly soulful turn as Santa stands out like a Christmas cookie atop a septic tank in this randomly plotted and intermittently amusing formula comedy.
A generally fun movie as long as your expectations are low enough. But considering the talent of the cast and filmmakers, Fred Claus should be better (and funnier) than this.
...far from the light-hearted, family-friendly comedy its promotional materials have been promising...
The anemically kooky coal-in-the-stocking comedy feebly employs the same tactics. The toothless slapstick Fred Claus is merely "ho ho ho" and a bottle of dumb!
Here's the newest entry in that curdled genre, the I-Hate-Christmas movie.
Fred Claus is the perfect post-millennial holiday film. It's funny, smart, wicked, warm, and above all, completely clued-in to our growing crass commercialization of Christmas.
Freely mixing reality therapy, fairy tale and satire, Dobkin's film does not maintain a consistent tone.
Fred Claus is a tacky would-be comedy about family dysfunction that fronts some Scrooge attitude only to dissolve into slobbering sentimentality and canned uplift.
[Fred Claus] has apparently studied Elf and figured out everything that could have gone wrong with its fish-out-of-water Christmas fable.
Fred Claus ends up closer in spirit to Eugene O'Neill than it is to Dr. Seuss.
The best children's stories are the simplest, and this one's a complicated mess.
A Santa story you've never heard before turns into a bright holiday package - filled with pure enjoyment for kids.
Isn't there a verse in Revelations that proclaims when Tim Allen makes a funnier Christmas movie than Vince Vaughn, end times are a-comin'?
David Dobkin directs with some sparkle, but without the sustained energy he brought to Shanghai Knights (2003) or Wedding Crashers (2005).
Fred Claus is like alump of coal, the kind of thing that no one in their right mind would possibly want to receive for Christmas and the kind of thing that could only be useful to people when set ablaze.
Latest News for Fred Claus
November 28, 2008:
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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. ![]()
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. ![]()
More...
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