Fred Claus
(2007/Warner Blu-ray + DVD-Video)
Picture:
B-/C/C- Sound: B-/C+/C Extras:
C Film: C
When the
Christmas film become formulaic, the glut is like a lump of coal and though
David Dobkin’s Fred Claus (2007) is
far from the worst or most condescending such comedy, it is so predictable and
tired that even those making it look bored more often than not. The producers (including Joel Silver, who has
zero knack for family entertainment, as the dreadful Speed Racer remake showed) build the film on thinking a toned-down
version of Vince Vaughn’s usually annoying jerk persona would somehow be
charming and by him just being restrained, that would somehow equal redemption
and a hit. Boy, were they wrong!
For one
thing, Vaughn is more talented than the corner he has painted himself into and
gets zero chance to show that off thanks to Dan (Cars, the Pixar feature that turned out so much better) Fogelman’s
almost confused script. Vaughn is the
title character, a little-known brother of the famous man in red, who is not
quite the generous guy his gift-giving and highly popular sibling is. That he is only in his late 30s or the like
is never explained, like so much in this tale, but logic is not a strong point
of this project.
Some
efficiency pinhead is causing Santa trouble and Fred is flown in to help. Will he annoy the guy into an
institution? Can they save
Christmas? Will the Religious Right show
up in Hummers with guns to help? Will
this ever be a good film?
Vaughn’s
character comes across as a second-rate version of the kind of character Bill Murray used to play so well and
more than a few times, was reminded of the superior and underrated
Murray/Richard Donner effort Scrooged
(1988) with much more authenticity, an edge and an early gag with Lee Majors
that upends this whole film as trite.
Without that considered, the film boasts some name actors and in one of
the only things it did correctly,
cast Paul Giamatti as Santa. Too bad
that idea is wasted too.
Dobkin
reunited with Vaughn after indie collaboration Clay Pigeons and comedy hit Wedding
Crashers, but the third time is not the charm and the result is a film that
tries to appeal to across the board demographics and is just bored all
over. At best, Fred Claus might have made for a good comedy skit, but is far too
long at 115 minutes!
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is much softer than expected, while the
anamorphically enhanced DVD version is much softer and worse than it should be
and pan & scan 1.33 X 1 flipside reminiscent of the VHS and Beta era. However this film looked in theaters, Remi
Adefarasin, B.S.C., shot this in Sup0er 35mm and I find it hard to believe it
looked this poor. Than a cinematographer
who did such a great job lensing Onegin,
House Of Mirth, some recent Woody
Allen films (Scoop, Match Point) and more commercial fare
like Johnny English and About A Boy could have work looking
this poor here. This will not help it be
a belated hit either.
Not
having Dolby TrueHD as an option on the Blu-ray is another big mistake, though
the Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes on all three versions are on the weak side and for
a new film with some budget, the mix and sonics should have been much
better. Even Scrooged had more sound character.
Christophe Beck’s score is nothing great, but look what he had to score.
Extras
include a Blu-ray exclusive bonus disc, the DVD game dubbed Race To Save Christmas. Both format versions also offer 25 minutes of
additional scenes, Vince & Paul’s
Fireside Chat (as both lead actors interview each other), the Ludochristmas Music Video (in HD on the
Blu-ray), Pause For Claus (in HD on
the Blu-ray), Sibling Rivalry (in HD
on the Blu-ray), and Meet The Other Claus
(in HD on the Blu-ray).
- Nicholas Sheffo
