Fred Clause

I finally got a chance to see the latest Vince Vaughn movie to come on DVD, Fred Clause. The movie stars Paul Giamatti as the Jolly old fat man himself, you have Vince Vaughn as Santa's less famous older brother Fred Clause, and their mother Cathy Bates and Fred's girlfriend, played by Rachel Weisz.

The movie focuses on Vince Vaughn having to deal with being the less famous brother of Santa. Vaughn starts off as a bitter, smart mouthed user, who only thinks of himself. After being forced to call his brother, he makes a deal for his brother to pay his bail, in exchange for Fred coming to the North Pole to help in the weeks before Christmas. The reluctant Fred agree, because he sees something in it for him. Upon arrival, he sees his brother, Nicholas being overweight, and stressed out, due to the arrival of an efficiency expert, played by Kevin Spacey. Fred has his usual shennanigans and uses others so he doesn't have to do anything. After a fight, he realizes, the only way the kids will have a merry christmas is the other Clause needs to step up and help out.

This movie is tough to review. It is a little more difficult to say anything bad about a Christmas movie without sounding like a guy named Scrooge. This movie, however, doesn't have much going for it. The performances of Spacey and Giamatti are very good. Vaughn, however, doesn't look like he was able to carry a movie like this on his shoulders. He shows the typical Vince Vaughn, which I really enjoy, however, I don't think it has much place in a Christmas movie. The main flaw is trying to force such a character into such a movie. Fred comes off as simply annoying, and at no point is endearing. Santa Clause has a major flaw through most of the movie, in that he goes out of his way to flush out and almost mock the kids that appear on the naughty list. Finally, the elves seem the most annoying, and instead of developing into lovable characters, they just seem easily brushed off.

Now, the good is, it's a funny, and mildly enjoyable Christmas movie. There are some funny scenes, mainly with Vaugh fighting Salvation Army Santas and his brother. Giamatti is a perfect looking Santa. He doesn't feel forced, it seems much more natural, and is often mocked by the movie itself with quotes like "I'm a saint, tough love is a little difficult." Kevin Spacey is, as usual a very good bad guy. Spacey shows why he is one of the greatest actors of his generation. Another great part of the movie is the brother support group scene, including John Syallone, Sly's brother, along with Bill Clinton's forgot brother. Finally, Rachel Weisz has a small part, but she comes off as truly love able, very sweet, and with a thick English accent is just plain hot.

There are very few Christmas movies that are truly horrible because all of them have a moral of love, happiness and giving at the heart of them. Also, these movies are only entertaining for a few weeks out of the year. This movie is entertaining, but it is not one of the top Christmas movies you will see this year. Save that honor for the Peanuts crew, or maybe the Muppets and catch this on TV and enjoy the season.

It is worth a rent, especially if its a free rent. I give it a 6 out of 10.

Fun Fact: Kevin Spacey asks for a Superman Cape. Spacey played Lex Luthor in the 2006 movie Superman Returns.