Fred Claus never had the ideal childhood. Confronted daily by the "˜saintness' of his younger brother, Nicholas, Fred was stuck living in his brother's very large shadow. However neither are children anymore and Fred's bad conduct has landed him in jail. In a desperate attempt to make bail Fred relies on the one man whom he has hated all his life, Nicholas. But there is a catch, Saint Nick will only help Fred if he agrees to come to the North Pole and help the elves catch up on all their toy making. Fred reluctantly agrees but soon discovers that he is nowhere near elf material. Will Fred help to save Christmas or will his bitter relationship with his brother block him from helping at all? Only one thing is for sure, Fred and Nick are in this one together.
Suffering from a PG rating and a PG-13/R rated story along with lackluster jokes, Fred Claus underperforms, wasting the talents of Vaughn and Giamatti and becoming a cliché holiday movie event.
The biggest roadblock that Fred Claus faces is its story. The story is too advanced for the "˜typical PG fan base' and loses its audience because of it. The film deals with efficiency experts, overloads of "˜nice' kids, hatred between siblings and even the possibility of Santa getting fired. And to think that a studio felt that an average 8 year old could comprehend and enjoy all that.
What they needed to do was allow Vaughn a little more freedom. Award him with a writing credit and use him as the star he is by permitting him to play to his strengths of language and witty dialogue in order to help set the film apart from the numerous "˜Holiday Classic Wannabe's' that surface each year. Instead we are treated to a film with one of Hollywood's most talented actors who has to work extra hard to even crack a smile. Vaughn is not an actor that you put into a movie with situational humor. It is his facial expressions, his dialogue and his interactions that make you laugh. But here he is handicapped, lost with nowhere to run.
With that said I have to admit that the film wasn't all bad. Seeing Vaughn put on a Santa hat and barter with people who think they are donating money to a good cause when they are really assisting in purchasing a building for gambling is absolutely classic. Then there is the snowball fight, the elf sized house for the human sized Vaughn and a few other "˜funny kid moments' that give the film its semi overall appeal. But unfortunately those scenes are short lived and not recurring enough to save the film from its destined mediocracy.
In the end the film is decent, but nowhere near the potential that it could have been. Held back by a PG rating and a dense story, Fred Claus fails to deliver on all of its promises, instead delivering coal for Christmas to all its viewers.
