I wasn't looking forward to watching this film, particularly seeing as Vince Vaughn was playing the main character (having seen several of his films, the only good one I can name is Into The Wild). My pre-worries weren't wrong.
Fred Claus is the older brother of Nick Claus, aka Santa. As you could imagine, it isn't very easy to keep up with a high achieving person such as Santa, so rivalry on Fred's part is to be expected, and by the 21st century, hasn't seen Nick or their parents in many years as a result. In this film, Nick tries to bring his brother closer to his family. Unfortunately, the safety inspector, who hates Santa, is attempting to get Santa's workshop out of business, and uses Fred as a reason to get it closed.
Don't let this film fool you, because whilst it may be listed as a comedy, few genuine laughs are had, and nothing more than a slight smile is had at the best of jokes. However, it does get a little better (enjoyment wise, not funnier) as the film draws to a close, but not greatly.
I think it had an interesting story in including a brother for Santa, but the script didn't live up to it. Some jokes needed to be done in a different way/to be reworded in order to get that comedic value that they lacked as they were, although these jokes wouldn't have been hellishly funny either way.
It's disappointing to see how many big names were drawn into this production. You won't consider this to be a best work of the likes of Elizabeth Banks or Kevin Spacey. It's a little hard to believe that a man who had previously won 2 Oscars couldn't land a better film in 2007 than this.
I wouldn't say "Consider" skipping this. I'd say DEFINITELY skip it. You can watch better things than this with 2 hours to spare.
Fred Claus is the older brother of Nick Claus, aka Santa. As you could imagine, it isn't very easy to keep up with a high achieving person such as Santa, so rivalry on Fred's part is to be expected, and by the 21st century, hasn't seen Nick or their parents in many years as a result. In this film, Nick tries to bring his brother closer to his family. Unfortunately, the safety inspector, who hates Santa, is attempting to get Santa's workshop out of business, and uses Fred as a reason to get it closed.
Don't let this film fool you, because whilst it may be listed as a comedy, few genuine laughs are had, and nothing more than a slight smile is had at the best of jokes. However, it does get a little better (enjoyment wise, not funnier) as the film draws to a close, but not greatly.
I think it had an interesting story in including a brother for Santa, but the script didn't live up to it. Some jokes needed to be done in a different way/to be reworded in order to get that comedic value that they lacked as they were, although these jokes wouldn't have been hellishly funny either way.
It's disappointing to see how many big names were drawn into this production. You won't consider this to be a best work of the likes of Elizabeth Banks or Kevin Spacey. It's a little hard to believe that a man who had previously won 2 Oscars couldn't land a better film in 2007 than this.
I wouldn't say "Consider" skipping this. I'd say DEFINITELY skip it. You can watch better things than this with 2 hours to spare.