Fred Claus (2007) Warner Bros./Comedy RT: 116 minutes Rated PG (mild language, some rude humor) Director: David Dobkin Screenplay: Dan Fogelman and Jessie Nelson Music: Christophe Beck Cinematography: Remi Adefarasin Release date: November 9, 2007 (US) Cast: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, John Michael Higgins, Miranda Richardson, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates, Kevin Spacey, Trevor Peacock, Elizabeth Banks, Bobb’e J. Thompson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Jeremy Swift, Elizabeth Berrington. Box Office: $72M (US)/$97.8M (World)
Rating: ** ½
Maybe somebody should make a documentary called Santa Claus: The Man You Thought You Knew. There’s a lot we don’t know about jolly old St. Nick. For instance, he has an older brother named Fred. He’s the subject of the comedy Fred Claus, an amusing piece of holiday cheer from David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers).
Come to think of it, I don’t think “cheer” is the right word to describe Fred Claus. Can you really call a film dealing with a dysfunctional family cheery? The Claus family isn’t all ho, ho, ho happy. Fred (Vaughn, Wedding Crashers) walked away a long time ago because he got tired of living in the shadow of baby brother Nick (Giamatti, Sideways). I mean, how do you compete with a guy who delivers toys to all the children of the world in a single night? It’s no wonder Mother Claus (Bates, Misery) favors her second born, constantly asking Fred why he can’t be more like Nick.
I suppose a little background is in order here. Fred has been jealous of Nick ever since they were children back in the Middle Ages. He was always doing something kind and generous. When he’s made a saint, he’s gifted with immortality along with the rest of his family. At some point, Fred leaves to make a life for himself. Our story begins after that.
It’s present day and Nick is now known throughout the world by many names, the most popular one being Santa Claus. Fred, on the other hand, is the anti-Santa. He takes things from people (he’s a repo man). He’s a selfish and (mostly) heartless schemer who gets arrested after attempting to raise money for an off-track betting parlor by soliciting donations for charity on a busy street corner. The sight of Fred being pursued by a gang of irate Salvation Army Santas is one of the movie’s best bits.
Fred, in the doghouse with girlfriend Wanda (Weisz, The Mummy) for whiffing on their anniversary again, has no choice but to call Nick to bail him out. While he’s at it, he asks Nick to lend him the money he needs to get his new venture started. Encouraged by Mrs. Claus (Richardson, Sleepy Hollow) to practice tough love, he tells Fred he’ll help him out if he agrees to come to the North Pole and work for the money.
So it is that Fred heads off to his brother’s place for the holidays. It’s first class all the way with Nick’s head elf Willie (Higgins, Best in Show) picking him up in the sleigh. Fred is assigned the arduous task of reviewing files to determine if children are naughty or nice. Given his tendency to half-ass everything, fate couldn’t have picked a worse time for a family reunion. Anal retentive efficiency expert Clyde Northcutt (Spacey, The Usual Suspects) is there to assess Santa’s operation and see if it’s worth keeping open. He wants to see it shut down permanently. For now, it’s in three-strike limbo (as in three strikes and you’re out) which causes more stress for Nick who’s already dealing with familial tensions.
Some aspects of Fred Claus are pretty clever like how the workshop is depicted in a business-like way with talk about efficiency, productivity and meeting quotas. At the same time, it’s a magical place where an enormous snow globe serves as a super-computer. All you have to do is say a name and it shows you what that person is up to. There’s also an up-to-the-minute scoreboard that keeps track of the top ten naughty children. While the elves work, a DJ (rapper Ludacris) keeps things lively elf-style by playing “Here Comes Santa Claus” on an endless loop.
The workshop-as-workplace scenario isn’t the only modernized thing in Fred Claus. Support groups have become popular in the past 100 years so it makes perfect sense to have Fred attend a Siblings Anonymous meeting alongside Frank Stallone, Roger Clinton and Stephen Baldwin who has a lot of hostility towards Alec. It’s too bad Billy Carter wasn’t around to take part (he passed in 1988); it would have interesting to hear from him. In any event, it’s the best part of Fred Claus. I wouldn’t mind seeing a spin-off centered on this idea.
By way of showing Fred has something resembling a heart, he’s friendly with Slam (Thompson, Role Models), a young orphan boy who wants a puppy for Christmas. Sadly, he can’t prevent the kid from being taken away by Family Services. It would have been nice if Dobkin and the writers (Jessie Nelson and Dan Fogelman) developed it more.
I’m not that big a fan of Vaughn and Fred Claus does nothing to change that. He’s okay, but he gives basically the same performance he gives in his other films. Giamatti is an odd choice to play Santa, but he doesn’t do too badly. In fact, he’s pretty good. He depicts St. Nick as a stressed sort carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Here’s a guy who stress-eats his way through life while trying to live up to everybody’s expectations. It’s a unique interpretation of the legendary figure.
Spacey nails it as the antagonist, but why wouldn’t he? He excels at playing nasty, weaselly bastards. Anyone who saw him in the underappreciated black comedy Swimming with Sharks will attest to this. Bates is decent as Mother Claus, forever criticizing Fred out of love or so she thinks. Weisz does a nice job as the girlfriend who’s had it with Fred’s BS. Richardson has some good scenes as no-nonsense Mrs. Claus. Who knew Santa’s wife was such a toughie?
I wouldn’t say Fred Claus is a funny movie. I’d say it’s amusing and pleasant. Therein lies the problem. It should have had a sharper edge with all the stuff about Santa’s dysfunctional family. The closest it comes is an intervention session where they all express their concerns about Fred’s behavior. It fares a little better with its approach to Santa’s operation. To its credit, Fred Claus is never mean-spirited or gross. It tries to be nice and largely succeeds. However, this is one of those rare instances where it would have been better to be a little naughty.
