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Another one of those small, insignificant movies I always wanted to see...
It'd be easy to call Fred Claus terrible. The script meanders, Kathy Bates is actually made boring, Elizabeth Banks' small role is a nonsensical feminist nightmare, etc., etc.
That said, I enjoyed it. Giamatti does a great Santa, genuinely jolly and kind but also adult and conscious of his responsibilities. Vaughn does his usual shtick, but it works. And Kevin Spacey, who could curdle milk just by looking at it, makes a hilarious anti-North Pole villain. I laughed just about every time he came onscreen. And the inevitable happy ending is considerably less treacly than I was fearing.
Even with all these plusses, however, I might still give the movie the ol' thumbs-down, except...
Hot damn, I love this woman. Especially when, as is case here, she doesn't do her flawless but magic-dulling American accent.
All I want for Christmas.
There's definite fan-editing possibilities here. There are several obvious filler subplots and scenes, including a ridiculous and lame "Siblings Anonymous" scene (which apparently meets on Christmas Eve, right), an unnecessary child character, a tiresome dance sequence, an intervention that goes nowhere... we're talking 30 minutes of cuts, I guess, leaving 70-80 min.
Until then, a mild rental recommendation, especially for Weisz aficionados such as myself. May she never do a Yankee accent again!
It'd be easy to call Fred Claus terrible. The script meanders, Kathy Bates is actually made boring, Elizabeth Banks' small role is a nonsensical feminist nightmare, etc., etc.
That said, I enjoyed it. Giamatti does a great Santa, genuinely jolly and kind but also adult and conscious of his responsibilities. Vaughn does his usual shtick, but it works. And Kevin Spacey, who could curdle milk just by looking at it, makes a hilarious anti-North Pole villain. I laughed just about every time he came onscreen. And the inevitable happy ending is considerably less treacly than I was fearing.
Even with all these plusses, however, I might still give the movie the ol' thumbs-down, except...
Hot damn, I love this woman. Especially when, as is case here, she doesn't do her flawless but magic-dulling American accent.
All I want for Christmas.
There's definite fan-editing possibilities here. There are several obvious filler subplots and scenes, including a ridiculous and lame "Siblings Anonymous" scene (which apparently meets on Christmas Eve, right), an unnecessary child character, a tiresome dance sequence, an intervention that goes nowhere... we're talking 30 minutes of cuts, I guess, leaving 70-80 min.
Until then, a mild rental recommendation, especially for Weisz aficionados such as myself. May she never do a Yankee accent again!