Christmas with the Kranks

Starring:Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, M. Emmet Walsh, Elizabeth Franz, Cheech Marin, Jake Busey, Felicity Huffman
Directed by: Joe Roth
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy
2004

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The Kranks (Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis) stun the neighborhood when they announce they are skipping Christmas this year. That causes their neighbors to begin pressuring them to do their big traditional Christmas party anyway.

Review:

Tim: I've always been a big fan of John Grisham movies. No one does law/lawyer movies like ones based on Grisham's books. So, I was excited to see this movie. Yes, it was very different than his other works, but I enjoyed every one of the 7 other movies I'd seen based on Grisham books. This one should be no different, right? Now, I haven't read "Skipping Christmas", so I don't know who is at fault here, but Joe Roth's Christmas with the Kranks is a terrible movie. One, the title is worse than the original (so why change it?). Two, the movie is painfully unfunny. Three, it's absurd and makes no sense- so many characters act in ridiculous, unrealistic ways. There's no sense of logic or realism in this film. I could keep going on, but the movie is just a disaster.

The whole movie centers around the Kranks deciding to skip Christmas because their daughter isn't coming home. Not a big deal. But, apparently, the Kranks throw the best Christmas party in the neighborhood and so everyone is really upset that they are skipping Christmas. The neighbors resort to absurd lengths to pressure the Kranks into celebrating. Now, I never understood why so many people cared so much about what the Kranks did. How good were these parties? Did they pass out rolls of money and cocaine? It makes no sense. The Kranks don't want to celebrate this year. Who cares? Have a party somewhere else. In any real sense of the world, most people would be psyched they have one less Christmas party to attend. No, in this Hollywood, make-belief world, this is the most outlandish thing that's ever happened, and people will do anything-- anything to convince the Kranks to change their minds. And hilarity supposedly ensues. It's all so stupid and makes no sense. I had an impossible time believing anything in this movie. Most of the movie involves the Kranks avoiding their neighbors (who come across as awful and annoying). Then, when you really don't care about anything happening on screen any more, the Kranks' daughter announces she's coming home and bringing a date. Now, the Kranks don't react like any normal people would- they cancel their cruise plans, don't tell their daughter they hadn't planned a party, and involve the whole neighborhood in this crazy, last-minute effort to decorate and prepare the party so the daughter isn't any wiser. So, the selfish Kranks monopolize the entire neighborhood's time, all because they can't be honest with their daughter. And this is an actual movie that people spent money on making. The whole thing is just so dumb. The movie is awful.

Now, I always try to present different sides. Not everything in this movie was bad. There were these little glimmers of really funny moments. Most of them happened early on, but my guess is that they were things taken from Grisham's book. They didn't fit in with the horribleness of the rest of the movie. Those little moments prevented me from hating this movie even more.

Tim Allen was fairly decent in the lead role. He's a likable guy, and his charisma shows up in this everyman role. Jamie Lee Curtis was terrible. I actually like her, so I was shocked by her performance. It's way too over-the-top. She overacts continually throughout the film and it always feels faked and forced. It was really hard to watch. Dan Aykroyd gave a decent performance, but his character makes no sense. That hurt his ability to do anything. M. Emmet Walsh actually comes out of this looking pretty good. He played his part well. It was fun seeing Cheech Marin and Jake Busey in smaller roles, too. The cast might have been decent, but they're sunk by the awful script.

I went into this hoping the Grisham streak would continue, so I was pretty open minded. Unfortunately, this is easily one of the worst Christmas movies I've ever seen. It's a terrible, pathetic attempt at a film. It's really, really bad.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 4.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Santa Clause