Fred Claus (2007)

Fred Claus, Santa's bitter older brother, is forced to move to the North Pole to help Santa and the elves prepare for Christmas in exchange for cash.

Director:

David Dobkin

Writers:

Dan Fogelman (screenplay), Jessie Nelson (story)

Stars:

Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Elizabeth Banks

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Vince Vaughn	...	Fred Claus
Paul Giamatti	...	Nick 'Santa' Claus
John Michael Higgins	...	Willie
Miranda Richardson	...	Annette Claus
Rachel Weisz	...	Wanda
Kathy Bates	...	Mother Claus
Trevor Peacock	...	Papa Claus
Ludacris	...	DJ Donnie (as Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges)
Elizabeth Banks	...	Charlene
Jeremy Swift	...	Bob Elf
Elizabeth Berrington	...	Linda Elf
Kevin Spacey	...	Clyde
Rio Hackford	...	Leon
Bobb'e J. Thompson	...	Samuel 'Slam' Gibbons
Allan Corduner	...	Dr. Goldfarb

Storyline

During childhood, Fred Claus suffered his younger brother Nick's saintliness. Jump ahead: Fred is a fast-talking, genial but self-centered guy in Chicago looking for $50,000 to open an off-track-betting shop. When one scam goes awry, he calls Nick at the North Pole for a loan: Nick will give him the money only if Fred comes up to help a few days with the Christmas rush. After his girlfriend dumps him, Fred heads north. Santa's facing an audit from an efficiency expert, and it's not pleasant. Fred's job is to review charts and determine who's naughty and who's nice. Is there any fraternal feeling left, can either learn from the other, and what about Santa getting fired?

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Plot Keywords:

close up of eyes | character name as title | north pole | efficiency expert | christmas | 

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Taglines:

Christmas comes every year, but this holiday season Santa's brother is coming along for the ride.

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild language and some rude humor

Details

Official Sites:

Official UK DVD & Blu Ray site Warner Bros [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 November 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Vince Vaughn/David Dobkin Project

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,515,473, 11 November 2007

Gross USA:

$72,006,777

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$97,838,349

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Silver Pictures, David Dobkin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Three famous brothers cameo as themselves at "Siblings Anonymous". The first is Frank Stallone, who speaks about Rocky and Rambo, two major blockbuster film franchises that star his brother Sylvester. The second is Roger Clinton, half-brother of former U.S. President Bill Clinton. The third is Stephen Baldwin, the youngest Baldwin brother (specifically, he has issues with the eldest and arguably most famous, Alec Baldwin).

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Goofs

During the "intervention" scene, after he has broken free of his wrapping paper and tape bonds, the amount of gift wrap still stuck on Fred varies. Specifically, a piece appears and disappears on the left breast pocket of his shirt.

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Quotes

Fred Claus: You're gonna get hooked on that thing. I can see it now. Sixteen thousand bags of Cheetos later, you'll wake up, you're thirty-five, you're overweight, you're crying about your life in front of the soaps. I just did you a favor. You get outside, play around, make some friends, play kick the can, do some athletic stuff, go to school, you're comfortable enough to play sports, you get a partial scholarship, you got any ethnic in your background, any ethnicity in your background? I bet you do. It's...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The opening logos are covered in snow and Christmas tree lights.

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Connections

Referenced in I Am Legend (2007)

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Soundtracks

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Traditional
Arranged by Dan Pinnella, Chris Wagner, and Ric Markmann
Produced by Matter Music and David Dobkin
Performed by Mark Turk with Matter Music, and Gaby Moreno

User Reviews

Not a Christmas cracker, but not a bah humbug either

I watched this with low expectations, expecting it to be a mess. But I was surprised. Fred Claus is far from a Christmas classic, but there are much worse as well, for example Deck the Halls was very mean-spirited and unfunny, both of which I often see Fred Claus get criticised for.

I do agree it is very predictable, and that the direction is on the slack side. And there is also some uneven pacing and moments of disjointed dialogue. That said, it does look good with lovely cinematography and scenery, and the soundtrack is great and does put you in the mood for the Christmas season. Also there are moments of inspired physical comedy and while they have been better Vince Vaughan and Paul Giamatti(who was so good in Sideways) do display a good chemistry and both deliver spirited performances.

So overall, this is not a bad movie. It could have been better, but it is almost certainly not a disaster. 6/10 Bethany Cox