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Fred Claus (2007)

tomatometer

21

Average Rating: 4.2/10
Reviews Counted: 139
Fresh: 29 | Rotten: 110

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.

22

Average Rating: 4.3/10
Critic Reviews: 37
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 29

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.

audience

49

liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 357,119

My Rating

Movie Info

Santa's black-sheep brother gets a much-needed shot at redemption in this holiday comedy reuniting actor Vince Vaughn and director David Dobkin (Clay Pigeons, Wedding Crashers). It's not easy being the brother of a benevolent and beloved saint, and no one knows that better than Fred Claus (Vaughn). After struggling for years to live up to the example set by his younger sibling Nicholas (Paul Giamatti), Fred has finally given up. These days Fred is working as a repo man taken to stealing the

PG,

Comedy

Dan Fogelman, Don Fogelman, Jessie Nelson

Nov 25, 2008

$72.0M

Warner Bros. Pictures - Official Site External Icon

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Cast

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All Critics (145) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (31) | Rotten (115) | DVD (20)

Dobkin's film is lit up by a couple of genius scenes: first, a siblings support-group attended by Frank Stallone, Stephen Baldwin and Roger Clinton; second, a superb in-joke triggering Spacey's redemptive thaw-out, stoking a festive glow against the odds.

November 29, 2007 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The movie is less ho-ho-ho than uh-oh, or oh-no.

November 12, 2007 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine
TIME Magazine
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There are some scattered big laughs and a sweet message here, so I'm giving it a mild recommendation.

November 12, 2007 | Comment (1)
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

As derivative and predictable as any of the holiday comedies of the past few years, providing audiences with at best a handful of laughs. Most of it is uninspired.

November 9, 2007 Full Review Source: USA Today
USA Today
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It senselessly dims an idea that should shine as brightly as Rudolph's nose.

November 9, 2007 Full Review Source: Toronto Star
Toronto Star
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Vaughn gets plenty of mileage exploring both the painful and fun sides of Fred.

November 9, 2007 Full Review Source: Seattle Times
Seattle Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's no improvement on Bad Santa, or National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, for that matter.

April 28, 2011 Full Review Source: East Bay Express
East Bay Express

Fred Claus will never go down in history as a holiday classic, or even one of Vaughn's better known films, but a sterling cast lifts up what could have been easy mediocrity.

March 22, 2011 Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net
ComingSoon.net

Because of the PG rating, the comedy had to be somewhat clean, which crippled Vaughn's improv style.

January 15, 2009 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures
7M Pictures

Fred Claus may not be as funny or as instantly classic as Elf, but it's still a fun family holiday movie--one that didn't deserve the lambasting it took.

December 13, 2008 Full Review Source: HollywoodinHiDef.com
HollywoodinHiDef.com

A turbulent ride that shifts tonal gears and messages like oscillations in the weather, ending in mythological frostbite.

November 26, 2008 Full Review Source: Cinema Signals
Cinema Signals

Silly it is. Frenetic it is. Loud it is. Funny it's not. (Blu-ray Edition)

November 23, 2008 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis
Movie Metropolis

A feel-bad Christmas flick, not exactly the way anybody would want to kickoff the holiday season.

November 23, 2008 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze
NewsBlaze

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.

November 22, 2008 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze
NewsBlaze

Fred Claus is not an entirely bad picture, but it is a decidedly bland one.

November 21, 2008 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis
Movie Metropolis

Vaughn's act may be toned down a bit, but he still plays the same fast-talking, quip-spouting arrogant schmuck that he usually does, and it wears thin real fast.

May 20, 2008 Full Review Source: Watertown Daily Times
Watertown Daily Times

Rather than creating imaginative situations for Vaughn to explore, director David Dobkin merely asks that Vaughn be himself, as if his personality were big enough to wring humor out of a comic vacuum.

April 9, 2008
San Francisco Examiner

Unfortunately, this is a broad family comedy that depends on odd sound effects (zonks! splat!) during every scene...

March 4, 2008 Full Review Source: The Scorecard Review
The Scorecard Review

Audience Reviews for Fred Claus

Great film, probably the best Xmas movie for years. It works mainly because of Vaughn and his deadpan, sarcastic deliveries and being an average Joe in his forties. It makes you feel good not because of the Xmas factor but because Vaughn makes you feel happy and comfortable about being an average Joe. The everyman who has to put up with life's crap just like the normal folk outside Hollywood.

Spacey and Giamatti are also very good in their roles as expected. It does look and play out like ALL other Xmas films but a slight twist on the plot, a few neat visual gags and some good verbal make all the difference. The legal side with Spacey is quite special but the sloppy ending almost spoils it...but its a nice flick.
November 30, 2007
phubbs1

Super Reviewer

Not the funniest film ever but it does make you feel like you need to be more tolerant of your family and help them out during the holidays. Something to get you in the mood.
December 11, 2007
StarCrossedVoyager

Super Reviewer

    1. Elf: Can I get a ho-ho-...
    2. Fred Claus: No.
    – Submitted by Mike R (5 months ago)
    1. Fred Claus: The world is what you make of it and it all starts with what you make of yourself.
    – Submitted by Dann M (17 months ago)

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