Fred Claus (dir. David Dobkin, 2007)
Sometime in the indeterminate, pre-industrialized past, there were two brothers born to the Clauses (Kathy Bates and Trevor Peacock), Fred and Nicholas. Fred was born first, but was quickly overshadowed by the younger Nicholas, who distinguished himself as exceptional almost from birth. Nicholas was so good, in fact, that he achieved sainthood, which, as the narration informs us confers literal immortality on not just him, but his parents and his ne’er-do-well brother Fred.
I wasn’t raised Catholic, but I’m not fairly certain that it isn’t how the process works.
Hundreds of years later, the two brothers have settled into their respective roles. Nick (Paul Giamatti) is better known as Santa Claus. He is married to Annette (Miranda Richardson) and does his works out of the North Pole with a legion of elves who cannot keep up with the demand of modern consumerism. Fred (Vince Vaughan) is instead a cynical, Chicago-based repo man dating an extraordinarily British parking enforcement officer named Wanda (Rachel Weisz). Fred needs money for both bail after being arrested and for his latest business venture. Nick needs assistance at the Pole because apparently he answers to outside interests who will shut down his operation if he doesn’t meet the demands of efficiency expert Clyde Northcutt (Kevin ‘Please Don’t Have Me Killed, Too’ Spacey). So, the fractious brothers are reunited for the first time in years.
Does any of this make sense? If Nick and Fred are immortal, can they be killed at all or do they have like a Wolverine-style healing factor? How many people are aware of Santa Claus or for that matter sainthood at all? Did no one tell Fred about compound interest?
The fatal flaw here is miscasting. Vince Vaughan is fine and all, but imagine if instead of him, Fred was played by Paul Giamatti’s real life, much less famous actor brother Marcus. There’s a better movie there, which unfortunately I don’t think any studio would drop 100 million dollars on for what would amount to intensive family therapy.
oliveresque 