Plot: What’s it about?
The story of Santa Claus (Paul Giamatti) is well known of course, but about his older brother Fred (Vince Vaughn)? While his younger brother was being generous and on the path to sainthood, Fred found himself living in his brother’s shadow. Over time, this caused Fred to become bitter and resentful, unable to have much of a life. When he needs bailed out of jail and a loan however, he decides to phone his brother and ask for Santa’s help. As always, Santa agrees, but this time Fred will have to earn the cash, via a tour of duty at the North Pole. As Santa faces an evaluation of epic proportions however, it falls on Fred to behave and make sure things don’t get fouled up. But when Fred messes up time after time, will he finally stand up and be the brother his family needs, or just run from his problems, as usual?
I wanted Fred Claus to be hilarious, with Vince Vaughn as Santa’s brother, the potential seemed to be there. But sadly, this isn’t one to add to the annual holiday movie marathon roster. This is by no means a bad movie, but Fred Claus fails to deliver as either a holiday inspired comedy or a holiday inspired heart warmer. The line is walked the entire duration of the film, but the material never commits to either side, which results in a mediocre final result. The laughs are decent, but not frequent and not consistent, while the heart warming side is rushed, so it all feels contrived. Even Vaughn seems to sleepwalk more than usual, settling with rattling off his standard style of dialogue. So while Fred Claus has a few moments, as a whole the movie simply fails to entertain, so its hard to recommend this beyond a rental.
Video: How does it look?
Fred Claus is presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen. This proves to be a great looking transfer, even if it falls short of the upper tier of visual performance. The image is rich and warm, with vibrant colors and dead on contrast, which really brings the holiday themed visuals to life. As far as detail, depth is excellent at times, but also softens here and there. So while good overall, the level of inconsistent detail does detract from the experience. This is still an above average transfer however, so the visuals are well handled throughout.
Audio: How does it sound?
The same Dolby Digital 5.1 option found on the DVD is used here, so no lossless soundtracks have been included. This is sure to upset plenty of folks, but this is still a passable presentation. Of course, when compared to a well crafted lossless option, even this solid soundtrack seems thin by default. This is a basic comedy mix, but the music and sleigh scenes do elevate things more than a little at times. So while driven by dialogue, there is some life to be found in this mix. I’d still rather have had a lossless option, but this one isn’t bad. This disc also includes French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese language tracks, as well as subtitles in English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Dirty Knees, Look at These, Korean, and Portuguese.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This Blu-ray release contains all of the extras from the DVD edition, plus more. David Dobkin’s director’s comments and almost half an hour of deleted scenes return, then we start with the new goodies. These extras include more interviews with the less famous siblings, promotional featurettes, a Ludacris music video, and fireside chats with Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti. A bonus DVD houses a well done interactive game titled Race to Save Christmas, while a digital copy for portable devices rounds out the extras tacked on here.
