For the last several years, there has been at least one new Christmas movie come out every fall. I have seen many of them since I tend to enjoy Christmas movies. I have been interested in seeing Fred Claus since I first saw a teaser trailer for the movie in 2006.
Fred Claus loved his little brother Nicholas but there were issues between them. From a young age, Nick was extremely kind and generous and their mother called him her little saint. She also compared her two sons, saying how she wished Fred was more like his brother. As the years passed, Fred came to resent his brother. As an adult, Nick actually became a saint and became known and loved all around the world as Santa Claus.
Fred was living in Chicago, involved somewhat shady business dealings and having some trouble with his girlfriend Wanda when he was forced to call Santa for help. In exchange for the help, Santa wanted Fred to finally come to the North Pole. Fred agreed and was even going to do a few things to help out in the final days before Christmas. Santa was glad his brother was there, but he was also stressed because the board had sent an efficiency expert, Clyde, to inspect how things were running. If Clyde didn’t like what he saw, he had the authority to shut down the North Pole.
Many of the Christmas movies that I have seen have included Santa Claus in some way. Of those movies, some of them did show a few members of Santa’s family like a wife or child. I think I remember a few of the movies also having Santa’s parents. I don’t remember ever seeing a movie that included a somewhat bitter brother, so Fred Claus was unique in that way. The basic idea for the plot was interesting and had potential. When you think about it, it does seem believable that Fred would have issues from growing up in the shadow of his younger brother. Sibling rivalry is very real, so it makes sense that it would go on if Santa had a brother.
Christmas played a very important part in Fred Claus. The movie took a little bit of time at the beginning to share some background from when Fred and Santa were children before moving on to current times. The majority of the movie took place in the days leading up to Christmas, with most things taking place in the North Pole. This isn’t the first movie to feature the North Pole as a setting. I did think the way the North Pole looked, while not identical, was somewhat similar to how it looked in a few other movies. That didn’t bother me and I thought it did look like a fun, magical place. Other somewhat familiar elements like the elves building toys and Christmas music also turned up. Really the only thing that was somewhat new was the fact that Clyde was there to inspect what was going on. Since there weren’t a lot of new twists to how things were handled in the North Pole and no big surprises, some viewers may not feel like the movie is original enough. That didn’t keep me from enjoying the movie.
For some reason, I was surprised when I saw that Fred Claus was rated PG. I guess I was thinking it was going to be more adult in nature, sort of like Bad Santa. One reason why was because Vince Vaughn was in the movie and it was directed by the same man who directed Wedding Crashers. Instead, the movie ended up being a family friendly Christmas movie. There wasn’t anything offensive in the movie and I don’t remember hearing any swearing. There were one or two things, like when Santa and Fred had a fight, that might bother some children. The movie did end up having a message related to families that was fairly well delivered. It did seem to get just a tad preachy in one scene, but it wasn’t too irritating like has happened in other movies.
For the last several years, I have felt that the trailers and previews for several comedies have shown the funniest bits and the movies themselves when watched were no where near as funny as I expected. Unfortunately, I felt that happened again with Fred Claus for the most part. There were funny moments in the movie and I did laugh. It just wasn’t as funny as it had the potential to be. There were only one or two things that I thought were very funny that had been left out of the trailer. Several of the things added for laughs were silly, which I expected based on the previews. This isn’t a movie for people who can’t enjoy silly humor. There were long stretches during the movie that didn’t have any jokes at all, and that did make some scenes drag a bit. I don’t mind long movies when they are good, but it did seem like this movie lasted just a little too long.
Fred had a lot of resentment build up toward his brother. Part of it was because of how their mother had preferred Nick and kept saying how she wised Fred was more like his brother. It only got worse once Nick became Santa and was loved all around the world. It was understandable that Fred would have issues with having been in his brother’s shadow for so long. He wasn’t a bad person even though he didn’t always make the best choices. Vince Vaughn handled the part very well and made Fred a believable character. He had been dating a woman named Wanda who was only barely in the movie. Rachel Weisz really didn’t have much to do because of that.
Nick had been a kind, loving, generous child. His nature remained the same as he grew older, so it wasn’t surprising that he was made a saint and became Santa Claus. He took his responsibilities as Santa very seriously and was nervous about the inspection. Santa loved his brother and wanted the family to be closer though it wasn’t really said if he understood how Fred felt about certain things. Santa had real problems, like health concerns because of his weight that were mentioned a few times. Paul Giamatti made a very good Santa Claus. Annette was a loving and supportive wife who was less than thrilled about Fred being around. She really didn’t have much to do other than be supportive. It did take me a while to figure out Miranda Richardson was playing the part since the hair color made her look so different.
Clyde loved his work as an efficiency expert and took great joy in looking for any sort of problems around the North Pole. The man had no love for Santa or Christmas and just wasn’t likable in general. The character worked fine even though he wasn’t really developed. Kevin Spacey was good in the part. Kathy Bates handled her part as Mama Claus really well, including the way she would say little things to pick at Fred. Trevor Peacock was just sort of around in the background of a few scenes as Papa Claus.
Many elves were shown around the North Pole, especially in the toy factory. Only a few of them were identified by name, so the rest just sort of blended together. I don’t know for sure, but I think some sort of effects were used to make the actors playing the elves look shorter. It was obvious that the elves weren’t being played by children like they have been in other movies. Willie was the elf that ended up with the most to do. Fred was staying with him and the two became friends. John Michael Higgins was good in the part. Elizabeth Banks turned up in a few scenes as Charlene, Santa’s helper. There was a bit of a subplot connected to her that worked out well. The elf dj, DJ Donnie, was played by Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges.
Main Cast
Elizabeth Banks - Charlene Kathy Bates - Mama Claus Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges - DJ Donnie Paul Giamatti - Nick/Santa Claus John Michael Higgins - Willie Trevor Peacock - Papa Claus Miranda Richardson - Annette Claus Vince Vaughn - Fred Claus Rachel Weisz - Wanda
David Dobkin - Director
Overall, Fred Claus was an entertaining Christmas movie even though it did have a few problems. People looking for a family friendly Christmas movie may want to check the movie out. Fans of Paul Giamatti or Vince Vaughn may also like the movie.
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