A turbulent ride that shifts tonal gears and messages like oscillations in the weather, ending in mythological frostbite.
Comment
11/26/08
Fred Claus (2007)
21 %
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 133
Fresh: 28
Rotten:105
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.
Theatrical Release:Nov 9, 2007 Wide
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,... [More]
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, Elizabeth Banks
Director: David Dobkin
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Reviews for Fred Claus
Fred Claus is not an entirely bad picture, but it is a decidedly bland one.
11/21/08
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.
05/20/08
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.
04/09/08
Unfortunately, this is a broad family comedy that depends on odd sound effects (zonks! splat!) during every scene...
03/04/08
Does it make me a Scrooge to suggest that this is one piece of holiday coal you should leave in your stocking?
02/28/08
Fred Claus won't make us forget "Rudolph," "Frosty" or even "The Santa Clause."
01/19/08
It is a joyless rehash of old plots and jokes. File "Fred Claus" under lump of coal.
12/12/07
Paul Giamatti is forced to play Santa like a socially awkward version of Vince Vaughn
12/11/07
There are no laughs from the material, which wants to be edgy but can't go for broke because it's too busy being a trifling piece of holiday cheer but without the cheer.
12/01/07
Fred Claus tries desperately for a Bad Santa meets Elf vibe. Five minutes in, the man sitting next to me was sound asleep.
11/30/07
The actual effect of films such as this, however, is to put you in an entirely non-Christmas, non-joyous and non-charitable mood.
11/30/07
An archly mirthless comedy.
11/30/07
Fred Claus is in the grand tradition of a certain type of Yuletide farce - one that's about as funny as a crushed bauble in your egg nog.
11/30/07
The spirit of Scrooge surges strong within me having watched this chillingly cynical and unfunny Christmas movie.
11/30/07
DICK VAN DYKE had an excuse for doing a terrible Cockney accent in Mary Poppins – he is American. But how Brit Rachel Weisz can explain her “you wot” effort in Fred Claus is anyone’s guess.
11/30/07
It’s not exactly It’s A Wonderful Life, with Vaughn’s trademark blokeishness starting to jar, Giamatti strangely miserable and the laughs generally thin on the ground.
11/30/07
You'll have a better time if you spend Christmas wedged up a chimney.
11/30/07
This is one of those flicks that attempts to appeal to adults at a nudge, nudge, wink, wink, more salacious level while keeping the kids happy. It never really works.
11/29/07
More no no no than ho ho ho, Vince Vaughn's crime against cinema is a worthy winner of this year's Deck The Halls prize for least welcome Christmas present. Make no mistake: Fred Claus is the real Bad Santa.
11/29/07
Latest News for Fred Claus
November 28, 2008:
UK Critics Consensus: Local Critics Warm To Changeling; De Niro Delights But What Just Happened Doesn't
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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