RATING: 2/5 Cast: Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, M. Emmet Walsh, Elizabeth Franz, Erik Per Sullivan, Cheech Marin, Jake Busey, Julie Gonzalo
Director: Joe Roth
Genre: Comedy
MPAA: Rated PG for brief language and suggestive content. Complete Your Favorite Albums Now. $7.99 or Less. Download on iTunes now. Parental Guide:
Nudity: None
Profanity: PG equivalent; 1 profanity
Sex: PG equivalent; 2 scenes implying sex, mild sexual dialogue
Violence: PG equivalent; slapstick humor
Other: None
"You're skipping Christmas! Isn't that against the law?" With their daughter away at college the Kranks (Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis) decide to skip Christmas: no lights, no Frosty, no party, no presents…no Christmas. On Christmas day they will board a cruise and forget the Holiday spirit. Yet do they realize their decision will impact an entire town, who takes the Holiday a little too seriously. Christmas with the Kranks, based on John Grisham's novel "Skipping Christmas", offers its audiences endless physical humor, over-the-top cartoonish characters, and the anticipated feel good Christmas conclusion. Unless Tim Allen fans, Christmas with the Kranks is a Holiday party to be avoided. The painful realization is that we have been denied a witty Christmas comedy for years, and this is unfortunately not Hollywood's redemption. Often audiences will recall the Tom Hanks outing entitled The 'Burbs, where eccentric neighbors skirted the streets, spying and stalking each other. This is the much tamer version with a little Christmas spirit inserted. But this is what is expected from screenwriter Chris Columbus, evident from his family-oriented outings that include Gremlins (Hoyt Axton), The Goonies (Sean Astin), Young Sherlock Holmes (Nicholas Rowe), Heartbreak Hotel (David Keith), Only the Lonely (John Candy), and Nine Months (Hugh Grant). His directing resume includes Home Alone (Macaulay Culkin), Mrs. Doubtfire (Robin Williams), Bicentennial Man (Robin Williams), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Daniel Radcliffe), and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Daniel Radcliffe). Probably the reason Columbus didn't direct the third Harry Potter outing was his inability to incorporate dark, somber tones, a necessary venture that would dominate the sequels…and this is a problem here as well. Black Comedy would have served this one well. A little less of Home Alone and a little more of Bad Santa. AGE-DEFYING DUO - SAVE
$13 Director Joe Roth resume includes America's Sweethearts (John Cusack), Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (Robert Carradine), and Coupe de Ville (Patrick Dempsey). Comedian Tim Allen ("The Santa Clause", "For Richer or Poorer") embarks on yet another Holiday comedy, and with less than applauding results. Allen, while effective and occasionally humorous, is denied material to escalate the laughs. Meanwhile his stiff co-star, Jamie Lee Curtis ("Halloween: Resurrection", "Drowning Mona") looks like a wide-eyed robot obeying commands. The cast includes Dan Aykroyd ("50 First Dates", "Evolution"), M. Emmet Walsh ("Snow Dogs", "My Best Friend's Wedding"), Elizabeth Franz ("Sabrina", "The Pallbearer"), Cheech Marin ("Once Upon a Time in Mexico", "Tin Cup"), Jake Busey ("Tomcats", "Identity"), Austin Pendleton ("A Beautiful Mind", "Uptown Girls"), and Julie Gonzalo ("A Cinderella Story", "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story"). Christmas with the Kranks reminds of Home for the Holidays (Holly Hunter), Surviving Christmas (Ben Affleck), and The 'Burbs (Tom Hanks).
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