Thank God it’s not a rated R Christmas movie like Bad Santa, which by the way I thought was one of the funniest holiday movies ever. But the movie Fred Claus in itself is not bad at all. It’s brought to you by the guys who showed us how hilarious Wedding Crashers could be. This is an original thinking of… What Ifs.
Someone asked “What if Santa had a big brother?” and Bam! Fred Claus arrives.
When I saw the teaser trailer a year ago, I was a little concerned that the talented Paul Giamatti might make a wrong choice and take the route Tim Allen took regarding his career.
Fred Claus (Vaughn) is the bitter older brother of Santa Claus (Paul Giamatti). Fred always gets into trouble and when the time comes for Santa to pay the bail to get Fred out of prison, Santa says that Fred must earn his help. And so Fred agrees to visit the North Pole to help his brother prepare for Christmas. It is the season of Clyde the inspector checking everything, making sure the production goes well or else he’ll be forced to shut down Santa’s operation for good, Fred’s presence could either cause jeopardy or bring solution.
Family/Comedy films should be films that you could take your little nephews and cousins to. That’s why I put The Simpsons movie under the category comedy only because there are parts in that movie that I wouldn’t want some members of my family to see and hear just yet.
But Fred Claus is all clean and fun and silly. It deals with family and what’s important in being a part of it and every one of us who grew up with siblings can relate to this film. Parents often make the mistake of comparing their children against one another.
If you’re expecting The Grinch of any fraternity type of jokes, then you’d probably get disappointed.
FRED CLAUS surprisingly has more lessons to offer and presents them in a, once again, silly, fun, child-friendly kinda way.
I tell you this much, the coolest thing about this movie, to me, is the sleigh ride. They make it look and feel like a roller coaster. Awesome!
O and be sure to check out some of the hilarious second rate famous brothers that make cameos in this movie.
Vince Vaughn unfortunately just makes the audiences even more sure that as an actor, he can’t play any other character than Vince Vaughn.
FRED CLAUS may not be an instant Christmas Classic but just like the movie Elf,… it’s alright with me!
* Place the cursor on the picture below to check my grade for this film
