Fred Claus
Fred Claus starring Vince Vaughn is meant to be a jolly, good- humored Christmas tale and does succeed to an extent. So we have Fred Claus, the not so famous brother of Santa Claus who has fallen on bad times and seeks his good brother’s help to bail him out of a messy situation. Santa agrees to help his sibling provided Fred comes to the North Pole to help out in the week before Christmas.
Rating: 2.5/5
The movie opens with a young Fred played by Vince Vaughn who has a spat with his brother Nicholas, essayed by Paul Giamatti over the cutting of his favorite fir tree. They part ways and Nicholas becomes Santa Claus while Fred is a fast talking con man. He soon runs out of money and luck and is a failure in life as a he lands up in jail. To complicate things further he has a messy relationship with his girlfriend Rachel Weisz. Fred asks Nicholas for the bail money and agrees to help out in the holiday rush before Christmas. Nicholas takes a huge risk against the advice of his wife Miranda Richardson by calling Fred as he risks messing up the most important task of the year.
Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti in Fred Claus
Out of jail, Fred lands up at the North Pole to help out the elves with the packing of toys. His job is to screen kids and mark out the naughty from the nice. Things go out of hand when he marks every kid’s folder as NICE and there are not enough toys for all the kids. Moreover Fred has to fill in for Santa on Christmas Eve, when Santa lands up with a bad back.
The film has its holiday cheer in scenes when Fred dances with the elves in the toy factory and another scene where he is chased by Salvation Army Santas. There are humorous moments about a Siblings Anonymous meeting that Fred attends. It is a meeting of the unknown siblings of famous personalities like Steven Baldwin and Robert Clinton, besides Fred himself who are sick of living in their celebrity sibling’s shadows and want a share of the limelight. The discussion between Spacey and Giamatti over the distribution of toys for the children is also hilarious, especially when you have seen these two actors in more serious and demanding roles.
Rachel Weisz in Fred Claus
But there are too many anxious moments in the film that can distress children and could have been avoided altogether. The movie star on an interesting note but is not that funny. However there are too many loose ends like an efficiency expert from hell, played by Kevin Spacey, whose role is not well developed in the film.
Fred Claus is no rib-tickling comedy but has enough funny moments to keep the kids entertained. It is also a bit long and drags towards the end. However Vince Vaughn is not so convincing in this role and does better at adult comedies.
Rating: 2.5/5
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