KEY POINTS:
Herald rating: * *
Cast: Vince Vaughn, Rachel Weisz, Miranda Richardson, Paul Giamatti, Kevin Spacey
Director: David Dobkin
Running time: 115 mins
Rating: PG, medium level violence
Screening: SkyCity, Hoyts, Berkeley
Verdict: A good idea but too long and not very funny
I bet this film sounded great on paper, and when actors such as Rachel Weisz, Miranda Richardson, Paul Giamatti and Kevin Spacey signed on, studio executives must have thought they had a Christmas hit in the bag. Unfortunately, what could have been an edgy and irreverent comedy about the commercialism of Christmas turns into a not very funny, sentimental, formulaic film about the joy of Christmas.
Fred Claus begins in fairytale mode, centuries ago in Europe where Mrs Claus (Kathy Bates) gives birth to a very large baby she names Nicholas. It's apparent early-on that Nicholas is going to be an over-achiever and it's no surprise his older brother Fred finds his kind, enthusiastic and giving brother annoyingly obnoxious. Nicholas is, in fact, so perfect that he becomes a saint, one of the benefits of which is that the whole dysfunctional Claus family becomes immortal.
We then skip to the present day. A repo man, con artist and scrooge, Fred (Vaughn) has struggled all his long life living in the shadow of his famous brother, who is now known as Santa Claus (Giamatti) and runs a successful business in the North Pole. Fred ends up in jail needing to be bailed out. Nicholas agrees to give him the money, but only if he comes to the North Pole to help out over Christmas.
Not Nicholas' best idea. Arriving at the same time is an efficiency expert, Clyde (Spacey), who has been sent by the Board (of what, I am not sure) to assess whether Santa's organisation should be shut down. Having his bitter, older brother come and help out over the holidays turns out to be disastrous for Nicholas.
Vaughn keeps the film alive with his fast-talking, wisecracking, ad-lib routine, but over the duration of the film he just becomes annoying. Director David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers) has trouble mixing the darker tone of Fred's story into what is essentially a cheesy family comedy format. The result is decidedly average.
