Christmas with the Kranks

The first part of this movie is filled with dark humor and makes a worthwhile statement: Most of those who celebrate Christmas do so because of the trappings, not because of the substance. The huge snowman that each family who lives on the block is supposed to inflate and put atop their house points to the frivolity of the holiday for the average observer. I haven't read John Grisham's book "Skipping Christmas" yet but the first half of the film seems to be pure Grisham. Luther Krank (Tim Allen) is something of an antihero declaring his own private little war on Christmas abuse, unlike Dickens' Scrooge who simply doesn't want to be bothered with the holiday because he's a miser and worships money. Nora Krank (Jamie Lee Curtis) on the other hand really wants the show of Christmas to impress the neighbors and not to rock the boat. Having her only child Blair Krank (Julie Gonzalo) away from home at Christmas for the first time kills her holiday spirit anyway. She is pictured as a doting mom who has spoiled her child rotten at the expense of her marriage and anything else not involving Blair. The second half of the film becomes a standard traditional type outing with Luther Krank being the scrooge-like selfish oaf who wants to spoil it all with his bah, humbug attitude. He comes around by giving the best gift of all to his neighbor whose wife is dying of cancer. In other words, the film cops out during the second half and with it the humor sours. A potentially funny holiday treat becomes just another lame copy of "It's a Wonderful Life."

There are some truly funny sequences during the first part of the movie. Note when Luther Krank waters down his sidewalk to make it slippery for the terrible carolers. Keep your eye on the neighbor's cat. The botox part is excruciatingly laughable with Tim Allen at his best. The tanning scene with the glorious Tom Poston as the Krank's priest is also hilarious. Too bad this level of humor was not maintained throughout.

The cast is well chosen with one exception. Cheech Marin is wasted in a thankless role. When given a chance he can be a funny man.

For the first time, Luther Krank (Tim Allen) and his wife Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) are about to celebrate the holidays without their daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo), who has just left for the Peace Corps in Peru. Luther sees a Caribbean cruise poster in a Chicago travel agency window, and he begins to plan the trip. First he must see how he will pay for the trip, so he comes up with an idea that if they skipped Christmas, they could go. He will save money by not buying a tree, having a party, or putting up decorations. The neighbors think he is crazy and want him to at least put Frosty the Snowman on his roof for the local decoration contest. The battle begins between the Kranks and their neighbors. Then Blair calls and tells her parents that she is flying home for Christmas with her fiancée. They have twenty-four hours to put up all the decorations and prepare for the Christmas party. The movie was based on a John Grisham book, 'Skipping Christmas'. It is a cute Christmas story with a lot of funny slapstick sketches. It reminds you of the Chevy Chase movie, 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'. Tim Allen does a great job in several comedy scenes, especially, the scenes where he gets bowtox injections in his face and the suntan scene. (Columbia Pictures, Run time 1:39, Rated PG) (5/10)

While "Christmas with the Kranks" is surely an entertaining enough movie, it is not going to be a Christmas classic such as the 1989 "Christmas Vacation" movie. That being said, then it should be stressed that "Christmas with the Kranks" is a wholesome movie that does prove entertaining enough for the entire family.

The story is about Luther Krank (played by Tim Allen) and Nora Krank (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) whom are living in a small, tightly-knitted community where the Christmas season is a major event. And when Frank and Nora decides to skip Christmas and go on a cruise the entire neighborhood is turned upside down in disbelief.

There are some hilarious moments throughout the movie, and the cast list was really great, having some impressive names on it. Aside from Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis, then the movie also had Dan Aykroyd, M. Emmet Walsh, Cheech Marin and Jake Busey on the cast list. So you know what you are getting here, and people do deliver. There are also some good laughs here and there, which do of course add to the overall enjoyment of the movie.

But as I said earlier, it will not be a Christmas classic, as in it being a movie that you watch every Christmas. I have just watched it now, and I don't think that I will be making a return trip to watch it again.

When I first watched this a few years back I thought for sure it was going to be a C grade Christmas movie, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Tim Allen basically plays the same character that he has been in everything else, but he's hilarious. Jamie Lee Curtis is also sweet and funny. There are moments when it gets fairly ridiculous, but it's all part of the fun. Some heartfelt moments wrap this up with a nice bow.

Suitably amusing.

With that said, 'Christmas with the Kranks' certainly starts brighter than it ends. I found fun in the opening portion, especially with the two leads. I didn't like the ending as much, I found it too sappy and untidy. The run time is short though, so that doesn't hamper things much.

Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis are enjoyable at the forefront of the film, with Dan Aykroyd joining them in that bracket with his arrival. The rest of the cast are fine. The plot isn't anything majorly fresh, but it entertained me enough. Fun film.