Not as jolly as you might think
Fred Claus was an interesting concept when it first arrived on the scene in form of a trailer last year. It seemed like it could have some real potential. Vince Vaughn, once a very cool/psychotic character actor has now turned into a dead-pan comedian (which is fantastic). Paul Giamatti needed this movie after Lady in the Water (he is truly one of the most underrated actors). The combination of both in one movie depicting a not-so-cool brother of the Christmas figure in the world, seemed like a wonderful concept. And that’s where it really peaked…. a wonderful concept.
First, let me compliment the actors (and actresses) for their performances. There is only so far you can take their talent until the production itself fails them. Vaughn is witty and dark as the outcasted Fred Claus, who is the black sheep of the Claus family. Paul Giamatti’s Santa Claus will make you wish he really did dress up as the big fellow every year and deliver presents. The addition of Kathy Bates and Trevor Peacock as the parents, also helps drive the characters around them with their parental proudness for Santa and their distain (in a light way) for Fred. Add those performances to a splendidly cute Rachel Weisz as Fred’s on/off again girlfriend and you have yourself an all-star cast that put their minds deep into their work.
Now, the place where this production fails the most is the screenwriting department. The script seemed to want to be funny, and it was at times, but it never really had a constant flow to it. It was as if the screenwriters were concentrating too hard on writing clever one-liners they want Vaughn to say, while completely shattering the story in the process. The main story is weak, as Vaughn will somehow save Christmas. The addition of Kevin Spacey’s antagonist character is only there to push this along, no real reason otherwise (though they try to make it very emotional for this a-hole character). The two love stories on the side, which I won’t mention much of, just seem very out of place. It’s not a great storyline type of film, but it does have some amusing moments. I can think of 3-4 other films that deserve your attention better than this one, one being A Christmas Story the other A Wonderful Life. I would pick those over this in a heartbeat.
As for the features, you get a couple of average features. The standard commentary from David Dobkin (director), which is insightful and overly optimistic at times. You also get 25 minutes of extra footage, which is okay. Again, not spectacular. The menus are nice though and it sounds beautiful in 5.1, which is a plus.