FRED CLAUS

Vince Vaughn takes a trip to the North Pole to visit his brother Nicholas in the holiday comedy, FRED CLAUS. Vaughn is the title character, the distant brother of Santa, or as Fred refers to him, Nick. The brothers had a falling out during their childhood, as Nick grabbed all of the spotlight and praise from his older brother Fred. Years later, the same song rings true, with Santa as popular as ever, while Fred lives in Chicago as a repo-man, with dreams of opening a downtown casino. Fred needs a loan in a hurry to make his casino dream come true, so he makes a wish to Santa, and Nick agrees with one stipulation: Fred must come to work for Nick at the North Pole.


FRED CLAUS plays much like the modernized materialistic celebration of Christmas: superficial, loud and mildly amusing. This latest Christmas comedy is attempting to be more ELF than BAD SANTA, featuring an odd-mix of sugar sweet sentimentalism with a touch of naughtiness. This is the result of having WEDDING CRASHERS director David Dobkin take the reins of an apparent family comedy. The general gist of FRED CLAUS is in line with family fun, with a Santa storyline, an orphan sub-plot and a North Pole that visually stacks up with any of its celluloid predecessors. Dobkin, and more importantly, screenwriters Dan Fogelman and Jessie Nelson, must not have been confident writing broad, family humor, because many scenes play strictly for adults, none of which work. Each ensuing scene targeted for adults falls flat, whether its Fred being beaten by a group of Salvation Army Santas, Santa being audited by an uneasy Kevin Spacey or a Siblings Anonymous group with some truly lame cameos. Vaughn’s rapid wit still lights up the screen a few times, and he and Giamatti make a fairly comedic odd-couple, but the burden of the screenplay weighs down both talents, and the rest of the high-profile cast.

Grade: C-