dragonfire88's Full Review: Christmas with the Kranks
I love Christmas. There are some things I don't care for, like fighting crowds, but I do enjoy most things related to Christmas. Over the years there have been many movies made that deal with Christmas in some way. I've seen a lot of those movies. Some have been really good, others not as good, and some have been just bad. This year, there have been a few Christmas movies released. Christmas With the Kranks, one of those movies, is the only one I've seen so far.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving, Luther and Nora Krank were awake before their alarm went off. They were taking their only daughter Blair to the airport. She'd joined the Peace Corp and was leaving for Peru. For the first time in her life, she wouldn't be home for Christmas. Nora was very sad about Blair not being home that year. Luther was upset about it as well, though it didn't seem to bother him as much as it did Nora. On the way home, they made a stop at a store for a few items. After getting soaked by the pouring rain, Luther noticed a display in the window of a travel agency and an idea began to form. Luther decided that he and Nora should skip Christmas.
Nora wasn't sure about the idea at first but Luther convinced her they should go off on a cruise instead since Blair wouldn't be home. He managed to convince her after he promised to still make some charitable contributions. They started to plan for the cruise, and word spread around the neighborhood about what they were doing. People, especially the neighbors, weren't happy when they heard. Luther insisted that they not do anything related to Christmas, so they didn't put up any decorations. Nora was a bit surprised when Luther refused to buy a Christmas tree from the Boy Scouts. In his quest to skip Christmas, Luther managed to upset everyone around, including Nora.
On Christmas Eve they were busy packing when Blair called from the airport in Miami. She was coming home after all and bringing the man who had just proposed to her. They would be there that night at eight. Blair had been telling Enrique how her family celebrated Christmas and he was looking forward to his first Christmas in the United States. Nora claimed that they were celebrating Christmas as usual and then raced off to the store as soon as she got off the phone. Luther didn't want to give up the cruise, but Nora wouldn't hear of that. Luther was forced to try to get ready for Christmas before Blair got home.
I first started to see previews for Christmas With the Kranks a few months ago. It looked like the movie would be really funny from the previews. I do like Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis, so I was looking forward to seeing this movie. It was funny and entertaining for the most part, but I was still disappointed with it. It wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. It did make me laugh several times, but there were long spells where nothing funny happened. The parts that didn't have any laughs did seem to drag a bit. Basically all the funniest scenes were shown in the trailer. With a movie that is 98 minutes long that left a lot of time when nothing funny happened. People looking for a really funny, entertaining movie would probably be better off renting Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. That movie didn't have anything to do with Christmas, but it was hilarious.
Some Christmas movies are meant to be sentimental and others are supposed to be fun and silly. I think Christmas With the Kranks was aiming for being fun and silly, but it didn't fully reach that goal. There were some funny and silly things that happened, but there were other things that fell flat or that were supposed to be serious. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, featuring the Griswold family, was a good, silly Christmas movie. Bad Santa, while not a traditional happy Christmas movie, was much funnier than this movie. Other Christmas movies have been more serious, and I have enjoyed some of those as well. Toward the end of the movie, Christmas With the Kranks turned more serious for a while. It seemed like a forced attempt to make the movie sentimental and more emotional. Something was briefly mentioned a few times throughout the course of the movie, but there was very little information about it. Then as the end was nearing, that was brought up again. That part just didn't seem to fit with the rest of the movie. There really weren't any surprises in the movie.
Luther got the idea that he and Nora should skip Christmas since their daughter wouldn't be home that year. He wasn't turning against Christmas, he just decided that he wanted to do something different since Blair wouldn't be home. Nora was depressed about Blair being gone, and it seemed like Luther was trying to do something to help her get through the holidays in a happier mood. Their friends and family got very upset when they heard what Luther and Nora were going to do and tried everything to try to force them back into celebrating Christmas. Where they lived, everyone was expected to decorate outside for Christmas. Everyone put an identical snowman on the roof. The neighbors were furious that Luther didn't put his Frosty out. From the previews, I had thought that Frosty was just something Luther had put out every year and everyone liked. I hadn't thought that everyone had an identical Frosty. I don't see what the big deal was about Luther not putting his Frosty out one year. I do like to decorate for Christmas, but I decide what decorating I do each year. I wouldn't like having neighbors tell me how I had to decorate. I wouldn't like to have to out a decoration that was identical to something everyone else around had either. I don't think I would go to the lengths Luther did to try to discourage the neighbors though. I really didn't like that the neighbors were so judgmental about Luther and Nora's plans. I also didn't like that Luther got rather nasty to retaliate. He went so far as to run water on his sidewalk so it would freeze and people would fall. Things like that going on didn't exactly make a happy Christmas mood. I think the movie was trying to be a feel good Christmas movie, but I didn't think it really was.
Christmas With the Kranks wasn't the first movie to feature a character that wanted to skip Christmas for some reason. In all the various versions of A Christmas Carol, Scrooge was a grumpy man - or woman in a few of the newer versions - that just didn't like Christmas. He didn't want to have anything to do with Christmas and then he was visited by some ghosts on Christmas Eve that changed his feelings on the holiday. In the Dr. Seuss story How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Grinch didn't like Christmas either. He lived alone near Whoville, where Christmas was a huge deal. The Grinch decided he was going to stop Christmas. He changed his mind about Christmas at the last minute as well. Scrooge and the Grinch had different reason than Luther for wanting to skip Christmas, though all three ended up changing at the last minute. Luther didn't want to give up his vacation at first, but then something else got him back in the Christmas mood. People who have liked the different versions of A Christmas Carol or How the Grinch Stole Christmas may also like this movie since there are some similarities.
There weren't any actual sex scenes in the movie. There were some hints about Luther and Nora's sex life though. Early in the movie, when Luther was getting ready to spring his idea on her for the cruise, she thought he was in the mood and wanting to mess around in the dining room. Nora was ready to go, joking that it wasn't even Saturday. Nothing happened then since Luther explained his idea. Later that night they were sitting in bed when Nora finally agreed. Nothing was really shown, but from some things they said, it was clear what they were going to do after the camera pulled out to show the outside of the house. A little later in the movie, Nora ended up in a bikini that didn't leave much to the imagination. She wasn't obese or anything like that, but she did have a few extra pounds. Tim Allen popped up wearing a Speedo as well. I really didn't need to see that. I do remember hearing before I saw the movie about Jamie Lee Curtis being in a bikini briefly. She doesn't look the way she did in the little strip tease number she did in True Lies. She has gained a little weight, but I don't think she looked that bad. She looked like a normal person. It isn't normal to see a woman that isn't the size of a walking toothpick wear a bikini in a movie. Curtis has said before that she wants women to see that famous women don't always look spectacular either. In 2003, she did a layout for a magazine that showed how she looks without makeup and no air brushing on a picture. Then there was a picture of her after her hair and make up was done that had been air brushed and tweaked to make her look perfect. Nora did make a little joke when she had the bikini on. That one scene was really it for showing off skin. I didn't think it was offensive. Some people may feel differently. There was some kissing shown at different times, but nothing else was shown.
Christmas With the Kranks isn't the first holiday movie that Tim Allen has been in. The Santa Clause movies were a bit more light hearted than this movie was. Allen was fine as Luther, but there wasn't anything too special about his performance. There was a time or two when he seemed to be channeling his character from Home Improvement, Tim Taylor. Jamie Lee Curtis was fine as Nora. She did have some funny scenes. I did enjoy her performance in Freaky Friday more though. Dan Aykroyd played one of the neighbors, Vic. He didn't have much to do. Every time Blair was shown, I thought the actress playing her looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out why.
After doing some looking, I saw that Julie Gonzalo was in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and Freaky Friday. Erik Per Sullivan played one of Vic's sons, Spike, that was pestering Luther to put out Frosty. He was fine in the few scenes he did have. He wasn't annoying like some children in movies can be. He did a voice in Finding Nemo and was in Unfaithful. Jake Busey had a small part as a police man. He had a little more to do in this movie than he did in Contact. The other acting was fine, though no one had a part that stood out. There really wasn't much development for any of the characters.
Main CAST
Tim Allen - Luther Krank
Dan Aykroyd - Vic
Jake Busey - Officer Treen
Jamie Lee Curtis - Nora Krank
Julie Gonzalo - Blair Krank
Cheech Marin - Officer Salino
Erik Per Sullivan - Spike
Christmas With the Kranks was released in November of 2004. The movie was 98 minutes long and rated PG. There really wasn't anything that would be objectionable in the movie, though younger children may not stay interested in what is going on. The movie was based on the book Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. I don't know what the title was different. I haven't read the book, so I don't know how close the movie stayed.
I felt that Christmas With the Kranks could have been better, but it was entertaining. People who like Tim Allen or Jamie Lee Curtis may also enjoy this movie. I didn't think this movie was great, but it was all right. This is one I would recommend for people who like the actors or like Christmas movies.
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