Fred Claus - 2 stars out of 10

Fred Claus - 2 stars out of 10

"Fred Claus" is sort of like a Christmas movie for adults, only shot like a children’s movie.  Yeah, it doesn’t really make any sense to me, either.  The constant shift between child-pleasing visual gags and humor intended for adults make it difficult to identify a target audience.  If they were trying to make it appeal to adults and children, they failed as it doesn't really appeal to either.  The film provides an interesting look into life at the North Pole but I just don't like the story.  It was an interesting concept to have Santa reconnect with his estranged brother, but then it became an awkward mess of elves learning to dance and an auditor trying to shut down Christmas.  Paul Giamatti, I love you as an actor, but you make a horrible Santa Claus.  Vince Vaughn delivers his typical comedic role.  And that's not a compliment.  This brand of humor works perfectly in "Wedding Crashers" but feels annoying in a Christmas movie.  The film is filled with stars like Kevin Spacey, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates, and Paul Giamatti but the lack of a quality script hinders them from performing to their potential.  I know that some of them probably signed on with the opinion of "It'd be nice for us to be in a family film that we can show our children," but they chose the wrong one.  The film does have a few positive aspects.  They convincingly turned John Michael Higgins into an elf, to the point that I was contemplating "I think that's Wayne Jarvis from Arrested Development, but that's probably just a midget that reminds me of him."  I'll admit that the "Silent Night" sequence is amazing (but not worth watching the 90 minutes prior to it).  We always think about how excited kids are when they open their gifts on Christmas morning, but has anybody ever portrayed the satisfaction that Santa would have if he could see the excitement of all of the children opening their gifts?  The brotherly moment at the end of the scene is also pretty awesome.  AND I have to give bonus points to Fred Claus for taking those kids to Gino’s deep dish pizza.  That being said, I now understand why this film has nearly been forgotten after only four years and can safely say that it will not be added to my list of Christmas movies that I look forward to each year.