Fred Claus

Nov 30 2007 Evening Chronicle

DAVID Dobkin’s new comedy, reuniting the director with his Wedding Crashers leading man Vince Vaughn, will bring out the Scrooge in even the most ardent fan this Christmas.

There is only so much holiday cheer a film can force down our throats before we start to feel nauseous.

Fred Claus, a modern day fairytale about the rivalry between Saint Nick and his misunderstood brother, crosses that threshold in the first 30 minutes and keeps going ... for almost two hours.

Screenwriter Dan Fogelman evidently has a very sweet tooth because he keeps drizzling on the schmaltz, from the shy elf who gets the girl, to the orphan who receives a new family and a puppy from Santa. Evidently somebody forget to remind the man in the red suit that a dog is for life not just for Christmas.

Since he was born, Fred Claus (Vaughn) has languished in the shadow of his saintly younger brother, Nicholas (Giamatti).

Nicholas selflessly spends every waking hour making toys for the children of the world, aided by his wife Annette (Richardson) and head elf Willie (Higgins).

Meanwhile, Fred is almost bankrupt, scraping a meagre living as a repo man.

Laughs are in perilously short supply, apart from the mildly amusing sequence at a Siblings Anonymous support group with cameos from real-life brothers of well-known political and Hollywood figures. Vaughn works tirelessly to wring chuckles out of thin air. Since it is better to give than to receive, we regrettably give his sterling efforts the thumbs down.

(PG, 115 mins) Family/Comedy. Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, Kevin Spacey, Rachel Weisz, Director: David Dobkin.

NO SWEARING, NO SEX, VIOLENCE