He never saw Chirp Chirp again.
Written: Jan 02 '09 (Updated Jan 02 '09)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Fun movie.
Cons: Reindeer can't really fly.
The Bottom Line: The bottom line would watch this again next Christmas.
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| nibor's Full Review: Fred Claus |
Fred Claus, starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti, turned out to be quite a nice little movie to watch on Christmas Eve. Even with no kids in the house. Well, no little kids, that is.
The story starts out explaining the relationship between Fred and Nick Claus. Fred is the older brother and as much as he tries to love Nick, Nick does not make it easy. At one point, Fred tells Nick that he loves him but he wishes he'd never been born. Unfortunately, Nick pushes Fred too far and Fred becomes a little bitter about life.
Here the movie jumps ahead a bit. Somehow Nick becomes Santa Claus living in the North Pole. Something about time standing still when you become a saint explains why the characters don't age any more than they have.
Fred ends up in jail and needs $5000 for bail. He calls his brother Nick who agrees to bail him out on the condition Fred comes for a visit.
Of course there's a problem at the North Pole. An efficiency expert named Clyde (played by Kevin Spacey) is looking for reasons to shut the North Pole down. He's already closed down the Easter Bunny. This probably wasn't the best time for Fred to show up.
My thoughts
I really liked this movie. It was a little silly in places. I don't know why the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus needs to worry about an efficiency expert shutting him down. But whatever, fairy tales don't have to make sense.
Vince Vaughn did a good job with Fred. After watching The Breakup, I didn't think I liked him as an actor but he was likable here. I wanted things to turn out nicely for him.
I also enjoyed the characters of Slam, played by Bobb'e J. Thompson, and Willie the elf, played by John Michael Higgins.
A favourite scene was at a Siblings Anonymous meeting. I recognized a few of the actors in this scene and it was amusing to imagine how difficult it is to live in the shadow of a celebrity sibling.
At 116 minutes, this movie was just the right length. There are a couple of adult humour scenes but I don't think young children would get them anyway. I'd feel comfortable with children of any age watching this.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Family Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing
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Epinions.com ID:
nibor
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Member: Robin Yeatman
Location: Tallahassee FL
Reviews written: 48
Trusted by: 31 members
About Me:
I'm in Florida. I don't miss the cold but I miss my friends.
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