Christmas with the Kranks

Herald rating: *


Christmas with the Kranks is the comedic story of Luther (Allen) and Nora Krank (Curtis) whose daughter Blair isn't coming home for Christmas. It will be the first Christmas Luther and Nora have had alone in 23 years.

So Luther, a modern-day Scrooge, devises a plan for them to spend the festive season on a Caribbean cruise. Not only will he save money but he'll be able to escape Chicago's snowy weather.

Sounds reasonable, but the Krank family live in a community where Christmas is a treasured event. When their neighbours realise the Kranks are not putting fairylights on their house or buying a tree, all hell breaks loose and the Kranks are ostracised and harassed.

And just as they're about to escape the persecution, the Kranks get a call from Blair - she's coming home after all. This is where it all gets confusing: the Kranks instantly go from Christmas cynics to greedily sentimental.

With help from their neighbours they make sure that Blair arrives home to a perfectly decorated house filled with all the trimmings and excesses the Kranks had decided to avoid.

Somewhere is a message about doing selfless acts and looking after your community, but this gets lost in the idea that Christmas is all about throwing parties and over-decorating your house.

Allen's performance feels out of step as if he is improvising to make this eventless film more interesting while Jamie Lee Curtis overacts in an attempt to give the film some momentum. Hey, I love Christmas, but this Christmas flick just made me kranky.

CAST: Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Ackroyd
DIRECTOR: Joe Roth
RUNNING TIME: 98 mins
RATING: PG (adult themes)
SCREENING: Village, Hoyts, Berkeley cinemas