Fred Claus | 
| Director: David Dobkin
Actors: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, John Michael Higgins, Miranda Richardson, Rachel Weisz
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $28.98
Buy New: $0.97
You Save: $28.01 (97%)
New (71) Used (100) Collectible (1) from $0.70
Rating:  71 reviews
Sales Rank: 3099
Format: Color, Full Screen, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 116 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 5
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 1000023975
UPC: 085391139577
EAN: 0085391139577
ASIN: B000YABV7W
Theatrical Release Date: November 9, 2007
Release Date: November 25, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
AFTER ENDING UP IN JAIL, FRED IS GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO REDEEM HIMSELF BY WORKING IN HIS BROTHER NICHOLAS' WORKSHOP. WITH CHRISTMAS FAST APPROACHING & FRED THREATENING TO SIDELINE NICHOLAS' ENTIRE FINELY TUNED OPERATION, FRED FINDS OUT JUST HOW FAR IT IS UNTIL SANTA REACHES HIS BREAKING POINT.
Amazon.com
Vince Vaughn is enormously enjoyable as the titular Fred Claus, disgruntled older brother of the better-known St. Nicholas himself, i.e., the North Pole's very own Santa (Paul Giamatti). A garrulous hustler running from the emotional fallout of the ultimate sibling rivalry, poor Fred keeps trying to find happiness through one failed scheme after another, pushing away the people who care about him most. When brother Santa puts the squeeze on him to help out in the toy factory atop the world, Fred turns the place into one big, raucous party. Unfortunately, he's unaware that Santa and Mrs. Claus (Miranda Richardson) are under tight scrutiny from an oversight committee (represented by a calculating Kevin Spacey) and could be shut down. The film, directed by David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers), gleams and twinkles the way a holiday movie should, and has plenty of fun material for youngsters, including a wacky chase scene in which Fred goes on the run from a half-dozen, angry Salvation Army Santas. But Fred Claus is also supposed to appeal to hip adults with a taste for ironic farce, and on that score the movie feels like a succession of Saturday Night Live skits more than an organic whole. Still, Vaughn holds everything together with a smart, insightful performance that looks deep into his character's torment--with more than a few laughs. --Tom Keogh
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| Customer Reviews: Read 66 more reviews...
 Fred Claus is a 4 star DVD June 1, 2009
alex fryling (erie pa)
This is a really good movie if you are looking to sit down and have a nice family night. Vince Vaughn brings back the comedy like he did in dodge ball expect a little dumbed down content wise as this movie is PG. A good Christmas story and it shows that even if people are having different opinion and don't get along in life if they put their mind to it and decided to work together they can work out there issues. It is a feel good story and one that should be checked out. I found my copy for 5 dollars when family video was having a sale and I would try to find it for less the fifteen dollars If you could. Overall a solid movie and definitely work a watch.
 WHO KNEW CHRISTMAS COULD BE THIS DEPRESSING! May 23, 2009
! MR. KNOW IT ALL ;-b (TRI STATE AREA)
With a cast this good, its amazing that this film is so bad! The first two thirds of the film are so depressing that I almost couldn't imagine watching this in the holiday season. Of course the ending is predicatable and uplifting, but the journey there is rather dull. It's just too little, too late.
The film is over loaded with special effects and not much else. It's not dark enough to be a black comedy and it's not sentimental enough to give you that classic holiday feeling. HO HO Hummmmmm!
 Ho Ho Hum May 19, 2009
D. Mikels (Skunk Holler)
It's an interesting premise: If Saint Nick had an older brother, what kind of sibling rivalry would there be? Well, we find out in the whimsical, yet still unexciting, FRED CLAUS. It looks like older bro Fred (Vince Vaughn, who goes through the motions, and nothing more) resents his kid sibling Nicholas because Nicholas is just so. . .good. So Fred rebels, and while Nicholas becomes a saint endeared to the entire world his brother is a disgruntled outcast with relationship issues (why is Rachel Weisz in this movie?). Of course, this conflict develops over centuries and centuries, because Santa Claus is immortal, therefore everyone in his family--even those who marry into it--becomes immortal.
Isn't that special?
It's impossible for Paul Giamatti to turn in a stinker, so he's admirable as a stressed-out Santa reaching out to his brother due to a Yuletide crisis. The interaction with Vaughn is one-sided, as Giamatti puts in some effort--Vaughn coasts. Kevin Spacey is the villain, yet the viewer never really understands why. And the beautiful, luscious Elizabeth Banks is utterly, completely wasted in her role as a North Pole bean counter.
One scene, which I immensely enjoyed, saved good ol' FRED CLAUS from two-star status, and that was a Siblings Anonymous meeting, featuring a contrite Roger Clinton and an angry Stephen Baldwin. It was funny, it was entertaining, it was witty, it was engaging--but one scene does not make a movie good. Case in point: FRED CLAUS.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning
 Do Not Open This Gift May 19, 2009
Terran (Sunny CA USA)
The lead actor is one-note Vince Vaughn, so unless you are a fan of that type you are in for a disappointment. Also, many excellent actors are wasted in this, especially the glorious Miranda Richardson. When you add Rachel Weiz as a supporting player and Kevin Spacey as the requisite bad guy (I could never figure out the organization he worked for where Santa was a mere employee) as well as Kathy Bates as Mom Claus, obviously the idea of this movie appealed to the players and they couldn't have known the end result. By the way, for those interested, Gerard Butler is in a cameo. I wondered why he was in there at all. But overall this movie was bits and pieces and unexplained bits (including the human-sized lady elf who showcases her bosom).
The film opens surprisingly well with an inventive backstory for Nicholas Claus. Unfortunately once you venture out of the fairy-tale realm you have a collision with the Santa mystique - complete with flying reindeer - and a brother in a metropolis who is going to a siblings anonymous meeting attended by other brothers with problems featuring cameos by Frank Stallone, one of the Baldwins (I'm not sure which one) and Roger Clinton. Again, it probably read well on paper but in execution it is an utter mess.
This is the most unfunny comedy I have ever seen. Instead of abandoning it completely, I suffered through it in small doses.
If you want an excellent Santa film to see, the one to stick with is the series by Tim Allen, THE SANTA CLAUS etc. Nowhere does it collide with the Santa myth but works with it and adds to the magic.
Barely 2 Stars March 30, 2009
R. Anderson (Tokuyama Shi, Yamaguchi Ken Japan)
This is a Christmas film with many messages.
For example...
...a single woman with a child will be happier than a single woman who has a child and a man in her life
...a single woman and a single man living together is preferable to the two getting married to each other
...there is no such thing as naughty or nice. A child should be rewarded no matter what they do. If we feel they have done something wrong, then this is our own hangup. A child has a good reason to lie or steal. We just need to find out what that reason is.
...Christ is not a part of Christmas. In the film, there is a beautiful rendition of the Christmas carol, "Silent Night." However, one line from the song is cut. Can you guess which line? Yes, that's right..."Christ, the Savior is born. Christ, the Savior is born."
The only reasons I gave this film two stars were for the script and the acting.
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