Movie Review – Fred Claus

Director – David Dobkin.
Cast – Vince Vaughan, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, Rachel Weisz, Kevin Spacey.

Vince Vaughan has been receiving many plaudits for his performance in the critically acclaimed Into The Wild recently. But here we see him back on familiar ground in the Christmas family comedy Fred Claus. Starring as Santa’s older but not wiser brother Fred he is earning his living as a repo man in New York City. The fact that one brother spends his time giving and the other spends his time taking away is the first of their many none-too-subtle differences. And when Fred needs $50,000 in a hurry the quickest way to earn it is to work for his brother coming up to Christmas.

The fish out of water shenanigans that ensue are disappointingly predictable but I didn’t sit down with my popcorn expecting anything different. What I did expect however was sharp, funny and inventive dialogue and this is where the film really fails. The script is not terrible and there are some clever moments and the odd smart quip. But in the major Christmas release starring one of the main players in Hollywood I was looking forward to something fresh, something individual. That’s not to say it doesn’t try with a cast of genuine acting talent such as Paul Giamatti as Santa, Kathy Bates as his mother and Kevin Spacey as the bad guy. Clearly it was a spare no expense budget too with the North Pole and Santa’s workshop lavishly realised.

But there is just something missing. Kathy Bates is under used, Paul Giamatti is just another Santa and Kevin Spacey is just not a scary enough bad guy. The running time of around two hours is about half an hour too long and this half an hour could have been trimmed from the saggy middle section of the film. It begins well and one of the early scenes where Fred is talking to/at a young boy called Slam bodes well for some fast paced comedy wrapped around a traditional Christmas film. But we don’t see too much of Slam after that. The slow middle section lilts along then before the last quarter where lessons are learned and loose ends are tied. The best and worst thing I can say about Fred Claus is that it is fine. But hey, at least there are no song and dance numbers!