Fred Claus

Directed by: David Dobkin
Written by: Dan Fogelman
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Rachel Weisz, Kevin Spacey, John Michael Higgins, Kathy Bates, Miranda Richardson, Elizabeth Banks

Score: 5/10

Elf, the 2003 movie starring Will Ferrell and directed by Jon Favreau didn’t seem like the type of movie Ferrell or Favreau would be a part of, but it was surprisingly very good. Vince Vaughn, buddies of Ferrell and Favreau, decided to make his own Christmas flick, starring not as an oversized elf, but the wisecracking brother of Santa, Fred. However with all the things that Elf got right, Fred Claus gets wrong.

Ever since they were children, Fred (Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Paul Giamatti) haven’t seen eye to eye. Their parent’s affection has been hogged by Nick, who is constantly outshining his older brother. With all of his generosities throughout his young years, Nick becomes a saint, and with the help of some lame voice over, we learn that becoming a saint gives you, and your family immortality.

Nick becomes Santa Claus and heads to the North Pole, while Fred becomes your typical run of the mill guy living in Chicago, someone who always looking for an easy score. One of his new business ventures requires him to have $50,000. Short on cash Fred turns to his brother for help. Nick aggress to help out Fred, but only if he comes and works for him. Santa’s in a bit of a pinch, because his ‘numbers’ are falling. You see Santa apparently works for a bigger organization, and they’ve sent Clyde (Kevin Spacey), an efficacy expert, to check up on things at the North Pole, which has Santa stressed out.

The movie isn’t hilarious when we’re watching Fred hang out in Chicago, but it has its moments. It’s when we get to the North Pole that the movie loses what little it had going. Watching Fred dancing with thousands of elves and climbing into a bed that’s about 5 feet to short just isn’t funny. The elves themselves have some of the worst CGI in recent years. The filmmakers decided to take average height actors and graph their heads on to little bodies, and it’s the kind of effect that actually makes Little Man look good.

The main downfall to Fred Claus is the same thing that killed The Break Up, Vince Vaughn is a hilarious guy, but when he isn’t given any comedic support from the rest of the cast, it fails. Paul Giamatti and Kevin Spacey are talented actors, but they certainly don’t belong next to Vaughn’s quick dialogue and constant improv, they just can’t keep up.

With all of its problems Claus still manages to have a few laughs, provided solely by Vaughn. There’s one scene in this movie that is so funny, and so well done that it’s actually mind boggling when sandwiched between the rest of the movie. It involves Fred going to a “siblings anonymous” meeting to deal with his feelings towards his brother. It perfectly illustrates what could have been, and is the type of scene that you’d expect from Vaughn and his Wedding Crashers director, David Dobkin. It’s just a shame that it’s one five minute scene in a two hour movie.

Overall, Fred Claus isn’t the type of movie that Vince Vaughn belongs in. It’s a noble attempt for the actor to break into the family comedy, but it just doesn’t work.