by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
C+ Rated PG 116 min
If we must have feel-good Christmas movies, at least this one is palatable with Vince Vaughn portraying Santa Claus’ ne’er-do-well brother and Paul Giamatti donning the fat-suit as Santa. With his trademark comedic flare, Vaughn nailed the fast talking con-man character who has more scams going than a televangelist. Don Fogelman’s screenplay delves into the sibling rivalry and estrangement, as applied to this case of the Claus brothers growing up with different values. Giamatti is funny as St. Nick and makes a perfect foil for his brother Fred’s shenanigans.
Yes, every holiday season I review one of these schlocky Christmas movies. However, this is something a little different from Tim Allen’s Santa Claus movies, and I’m sure Allen was more than happy to let some other schmuck wear the sweaty fat-suit for this seasonal Santa comedy. Director David Dobbin cast an army of little people as elves on an elaborate set as Santa’s North Pole Village where the mythical gifts are made and given away free! Right, and Britney Spears is a great mother.
The premise involves Fred’s desperate call to his brother St. Nick for help when he is jailed for impersonating a Salvation Army Santa. He pleads with his brother for five grand to bail him out and he has the gall to ask his saintly brother for the 50 grand he needs to open an off-track betting office. St. Nick wisely only gives him the five grand to bail him out of jail and sends his head elf to take him to the North Pole on his supersonic sled with the flying reindeer. There, he will work to pay off his debt. Well, in St Nick’s naive fantasy worldview, Fred can be trusted to uphold their verbal agreement. St. Nick’s wife Annette Claus (Miranda Richardson) despises Fred and is mad at St. Nick for inviting him to their village. Long ago, she saw through his avalanche of lies.
Kevin Spacey plays a corporate hatchet man, Clyde, who has come to Santa Land to look for ways to shut down St. Nick’s entire operation. He has already fired the Easter Bunny and was anticipating firing St. Nick. With Christmas in jeopardy, Fred is the last person Santa wants working in his workshop. When Clyde enters the workshop to see how efficiently it is running, Fred has the entire elf workforce rocking and rolling with the gift assembly line shut down.
Now, Clyde has the evidence he needs to shutdown Claus’ toy factory, canceling Christmas. Fred is sent packing back to his shady con-man life. The rest of the story is as predictable as the national debt rising $1.4 billion a day. Vaughn and Giamatti work hard to make the scenario funny, and for the most part they succeed.
Fred goes to a Sibling Anonymous meeting with the brothers of famous celebrities, including Roger Clinton and Steven Baldwin. Rachel Weiss is a standout as Fred’s girlfriend back in the city. Before he left for the North Pole she broke up with him for his lying, cheating ways. Kathy Bates enhances her limited role as the Claus’ mother.
Filmmaker Dobbin wisely hired A-list actors to ensure the success of this formulaic holiday fare. Much expense and detail went into constructing the set of Santa Land and the toy factory. With high quality production values and a stellar cast, this Christmas genre movie will do well at the box office as the silly season takes over our consciousness. Deck the halls–suckers.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
