Johnson Thomas 

Fred Claus
Cast: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Kevin Spacey, John Michael Higgins, Miranda Richardson, Kathy Bates, Rachel Weisz
Director: David Dobkin
Rating: **1/2

This Santa (Paul Giamatti) has a wife (Miranda Richardson) and an older brother Fred (Vince Vaughn)—an unhappy, dysfunctional one at that! Fred doesn’t get along with his parents (Kathy Bates, Trevor Peacock) who think the sun shines out of their younger son. His girlfriend Wanda (Rachel Weisz) is not too happy with him. 

Fred wants $ 50,000 to get a handle on a sidey deal so he enters into the bargain with his brother who expects him to help him with the Christmas overload.

The stage is well set for some heavy snow-laden drama. ‘Fred Claus’ meant to play as a comedy is anything but that. Dobkin’s treatment is not as light as it could have been. There are far more dramatic moments than comedic. The topic is Christmas and the theme is family.

Dan Fogelman’s screenplay tweaks the familiar Santa story, introducing some old-fashioned values, heavy drama and wry humor. But the mix just doesn’t feel right.

Dobkin’s ‘origin of Santa’ sequence, though long-drawn, is worth a watch for those who find it hard to believe in the Santa fantasy. Fred’s sibling’s anonymous foray is also particularly noteworthy.

Especially for the fact that it features Frank Stallone, Roger Clinton and Stephen Baldwin taking pot-shots at their famous brothers. It’s an obvious lampoon of the AA. But that’s truly the only sequence that turned on the laughs.

‘Fred Claus’ has excellent art direction and production design. Dobkin’s narrative spiel though is highly confused. Wisecracks, flat jokes and clichés are excess baggage in a plot that is unnecessarily complicated.

Giamatti’s Nick Claus persona is mild-mannered while Vince Vaughn’s Fred is the obnoxious wiseass. Despite the contrast there’s very little chemistry to make the characters believable.

Vaughn’s timing is way off. If he fancies himself as a comedian he really needs to spruce up his act