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04/23/09
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Fred Claus (2007)
21
%
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Reviews Counted:134
Fresh:28
Rotten:106
Average Rating:4.2/10
Consensus: A slew of talent is wasted in this contrived and overly sentimental Christmas film, which can't quite get the balance between slapstick humor and sentimental family moments.
Theatrical Release:Nov 9, 2007 Wide
Box Office: $71,970,547
Synopsis: Sibling rivalry takes on a new dimension in director David Dobkin's (WEDDING CRASHERS, CLAY PIGEONS) third collaboration with actor Vince Vaughn, FRED CLAUS. Ever since his younger brother,... [More]
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, Elizabeth Banks
Director: David Dobkin
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Reviews for Fred Claus
A turbulent ride that shifts tonal gears and messages like oscillations in the weather, ending in mythological frostbite.
11/26/08
Fred Claus is not an entirely bad picture, but it is a decidedly bland one.
11/21/08
Vaughn's act may be toned down a bit, but he still plays the same fast-talking, quip-spouting arrogant schmuck that he usually does, and it wears thin real fast.
05/20/08
Rather than creating imaginative situations for Vaughn to explore, director David Dobkin merely asks that Vaughn be himself, as if his personality were big enough to wring humor out of a comic vacuum.
04/09/08
Unfortunately, this is a broad family comedy that depends on odd sound effects (zonks! splat!) during every scene...
03/04/08
Does it make me a Scrooge to suggest that this is one piece of holiday coal you should leave in your stocking?
02/28/08
Fred Claus won't make us forget "Rudolph," "Frosty" or even "The Santa Clause."
01/19/08
It is a joyless rehash of old plots and jokes. File "Fred Claus" under lump of coal.
12/12/07
Paul Giamatti is forced to play Santa like a socially awkward version of Vince Vaughn
12/11/07
There are no laughs from the material, which wants to be edgy but can't go for broke because it's too busy being a trifling piece of holiday cheer but without the cheer.
12/01/07
Fred Claus tries desperately for a Bad Santa meets Elf vibe. Five minutes in, the man sitting next to me was sound asleep.
11/30/07
The actual effect of films such as this, however, is to put you in an entirely non-Christmas, non-joyous and non-charitable mood.
11/30/07
An archly mirthless comedy.
11/30/07
Fred Claus is in the grand tradition of a certain type of Yuletide farce - one that's about as funny as a crushed bauble in your egg nog.
11/30/07
The spirit of Scrooge surges strong within me having watched this chillingly cynical and unfunny Christmas movie.
11/30/07
DICK VAN DYKE had an excuse for doing a terrible Cockney accent in Mary Poppins – he is American. But how Brit Rachel Weisz can explain her “you wot” effort in Fred Claus is anyone’s guess.
11/30/07
It’s not exactly It’s A Wonderful Life, with Vaughn’s trademark blokeishness starting to jar, Giamatti strangely miserable and the laughs generally thin on the ground.
11/30/07
You'll have a better time if you spend Christmas wedged up a chimney.
11/30/07
This is one of those flicks that attempts to appeal to adults at a nudge, nudge, wink, wink, more salacious level while keeping the kids happy. It never really works.
11/29/07
Latest News for Fred Claus
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November 24, 2008:
RT on DVD: Fred Claus, Hancock, and 24: Redemption
The holidays are upon us, which makes it a perfect week to snuggle up with the superhero (Hancock), the spirited (Fred Claus), or the stealthy (Keifer Sutherland as Jack Bauer... More...
November 23, 2008:
Don't make the mistake of misreading this mean-spirited production as a kid-friendly Christmas flick. 
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November 22, 2008:
Vince Vaughn's famously rude Wedding Crasher gets macho with Ludacris as a m-igitalized feisty Santa elf, while huddling over the pint-sized urinals in the john with another, to clue him about North Pole dirty dancing and romance.
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