DVD
REVIEW: FRED CLAUS
11/22/08
I was really
routing for this movie hoping it would at least meet my
expectations. I’m a big fan of Paul Giamatti, Rachel Weisz,
and especially Vince Vaughn so this was going to be great,
right? I’m also a big fan of Christmas so even better. Put
it all together and you end up with a movie that falls
short. This movie has a lot of everything but not enough of
anything. It was funny but not enough. It was dramatic but
not enough. It’s a movie for kids but not really. It’s a
movie for adults but not really. Its mix of kid themes and
adult themes kept stepping on each other and thus degrading
itself. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad movie, it just
could have been better. The concept was interesting but the
development was weak. With all the holiday movies that have
been made, it was nice to see a “fresh” idea for a story but
it tried to do too much. The first movie that comes to mind
in comparison is probably Elf and even though it also has
some adult type themes and drama, it was kept at bay to
focus more on its humor throughout. Does this movie at least
get you into the Christmas spirit? About as much as putting
up the lights.
Fred Claus was doing just fine until his younger brother
Nick came along. Fred really wanted to be the best brother
ever, but as Nick got more and more attention and
favoritism, they grew to become polar opposites and thus
began the sibling rivalry. Nick (Paul Giamatti) became a
saint and one of the most famed givers, Santa Claus. Fred
(Vince Vaughn) became a repo collector and all around
miserable soul. When faced with financial difficulties, Fred
reluctantly and as the most ultimate of last resorts turns
to his younger, more successful brother Nick for help. Good
natured Nick agrees to help with the condition that Fred
goes up to the North Pole to earn it by helping out around
the factory being that it is only a few days to Christmas
and therefore the busiest time of the year. Fred has no
choice but to go. He quickly infuses his irresponsible ways
to this well oiled machine, and so begins the havoc.
The very existence of Santa Claus in this film indicates an
orientation towards kids. But when the film introduces Clyde
(Kevin Spacey), an efficiency expert who wants nothing more
than to shut down the whole Santa Claus operation, the
orientation towards kids is quickly altered. There is also
the sibling rivalry issue that carried over into adulthood
and the overall family interaction and relationship issues
that could go over the heads of most kids. But getting back
to Kevin Spacey, this movie has quite the cast. Along with
the names already mentioned, throw in some Kathy Bates, John
Michael Higgins, Miranda Richardson, Elizabeth Banks, and
even a touch of Ludacris and wow, not bad for this project.
All of them did their roles satisfactorily. Honorary mention
goes to Kevin who is excellent at being cold and calculated,
Paul who makes Santa a more approachable human being, and
Vince who in my opinion is the reigning king of comedic line
delivery.
One impressive aspect of the movie was the visual
representation of Santa’s workshop and surrounding village
at the North Pole. I think they nailed it. One thing that
didn’t impress me was the elves special effects. In various
scenes throughout the movie where regular height performers
are made to look like elves was not very convincing.
Director David Dobkin (Shanghai Knights, Wedding Crashers)
had an extremely tough act to follow after making his
instant classic and masterpiece in Wedding Crashers. We can
be lenient on him because we know his potential. This one
was just not as strong so please try again David.
Review By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
DVD: Fred Claus DVD
includes both widescreen and full screen formats on one
disc. It also includes over 25 minutes of additional
scenes. The
DVD include and option to download a digital copy of the
film, so you better have a fast speed internet access in
order to do so. This is one of those DVD that are
recommended just for renting.
VIDEO:
Matted Widescreen
Full Screen
AUDIO:
English,
Spanish and French
5.1 (Dolby Digital).
Subtitles - English Spanish
French - Optional
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Commentary by Director
David Dobkin
Additional Scenes:
A total of 13 deleted scenes that don't anything to the
film. These scenes have a running time of about 25 minutes
Digital Copy
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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