Fred Claus, (Cert. PG, 155 mins)
Stars: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson, Elizabeth Banks, John Michael Higgins, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates, Kevin Spacey
Directed by David Dobkin
CALL ME an old cynic, but I always feel Christmas films with strong moral messages are created just to make money and lots of it. Make a successful one, you see, and you can be assured of an annual income as the movie is shown over and over again.
There are classics like Scrooge, It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street that have created that financial bonanza, albeit with DVD rather than cinema releases these days.
Fred Claus, I fear, is not one we will see much of after this Christmas.
The concept is good, suggesting that Santa Claus has an older brother called Fred who does not get on with Santa. Santa is a goody-goody, while Fred is a bit of a schemer and jealous of his brother.
The script has a new vision of sainthood, in that a saint and his family live for ever, so although we initially see the family some centuries ago in the Black Forest, in the modern world Fred is living in Chicago as a hard-hearted repossession man.
Only when Fred is arrested for a street charity scam does he call on his brother living at the North Pole to bail him out of prison. The price he has to pay is a trip to the Pole to help with the annual gift distribution.
The film starts well enough with Vince Vaughn as a troublesome Fred lying his way through life, even lying to his English girlfriend, meter maid Wanda (played by Rachel Weisz with a rich Cockney accent).
The North Pole scenes are quite glorious with a city of lights plonked in the middle of a snowy nowhere. It has the glow of children’s story book.
Paul Giamatti is an excellent Santa Claus, but one who keeps doing his “ho, ho, ho” catch-phrase rather too much. Miranda Richard- son is his sour-faced wife, who thinks Santa is too soft with his brother.
Then enter Kevin Spacey as a mean-minded efficiency expert sent to examine the North Pole operation and determined to close it down as being inefficient. He gives Santa a three-strikes-and-you’re-out ultimatum.
Naturally, Fred causes mayhem, including stopping the playing of Christmas songs in the toy factory and playing modern dance music instead. The elves end up dancing to the new music instead of getting on with their work.
Fred, to save time, also stamps every child’s report as “nice” in the Naughty or Nice room to save time, arguing that there is no such thing as a naughty child.
The operation is closed down and Santa ends up injured in bed. So it is Fred to the rescue to make all the deliveries himself – if he can.
The finale is quite cute and exciting with Fred stuffing his face with mince pies at every stop and falling down numerous chimneys (the chimney-less central heating house problem is not tackled). It is the middle section that lets the film down with too much talk, not enough action and, frankly, a lot of it is a bore. Even Vaughn, who co-produced the film, looks a little out of sorts, possibly having realised the film was not going to provide the Christmas bonus he was expecting.
It is also a very American film. Santa Claus, for example, is an American version of our Father Christmas. And when the elves are forced to create one simple toy for every child, the question is asked: “What does every boy want for Christmas?” The surprising answer is a baseball bat, an object better known in this country for its use in violent crime rather than Christmas Day entertainment. The girls, incidentally, get a hula-hoop.
The film boasts a good line-up of talent, including Kathy Bates as Mother Claus, but most of them get little to do. Rachel Weisz, for one, disappears for a long stretch of the film.
There is also an unsettling technique in which they put a full-size actor’s face on an elf’s body, John Michael Higgins playing chief elf Willie for one. It’s creepy rather than fun.
The strong moral message is finally arrived at when the brothers become friends, hard hearts turn soft, and everything is all right with the world.
It is just a shame that not everything is all right with this film.
