It's hard to hate a Claus

I sat down and watched a full movie yesterday for the first time in a while and being near Christmas it was obviously a Christmas Movie. The movie was Fred Claus starring Vince Vaughn which I think was released last Christmas, fairly recent anyway. Now the problem however is I'm not fond of Vince Vaughn, he's starred in some good movies, Dodgeball and Old School to name two but there's something about him that I just don't like. With that in mind I expected not to like this movie as from looking at the trailer it just looked like your standard "crazy guy comes in to town and causes havoc".

At some points this was the case, a scene in particular where he's dancing and crowd surfing elves just seemed a bit pointless but where are my manners, I've not even said what the movie is about. The movie follows the story of Fred Claus, the less successful brother of Saint Nick. Being less successful leads him to resent his younger brother and with that he doesn't really get along with his family. This is basically the central story of the film, not the magic of Christmas but rather the relationship between Fred and his family after becoming the outcast, however due to cash needs Fred must visit and work for his brother for a little while.

From there the movie is all about Freds stay and work up at the North Pole, during this the movie is helped along by the character played by Kevin Spacey who in my eyes was the star of the show as he played the bad guy role incredibly well despite being limited to keeping it light hearted. The character is very sly and causes all manner of trouble that tests the strained relationship between the family to bring the story along and develop the characters. In the end though it is something of Santa's own doing that eventually starts the whole conclusion and typical moment of despair that all these types of movies have.

From this point the movie turns very typical of Christmas movie which whilst is predictable you still get that feeling where you urge the character on to save the day because of the journey (all be it the short journey (not a geographical journey obviously, the North Pole is quite a way away (too many brackets, the reader is sure to have lost interest by now))) that the main characters go on.

So with a few jokes here and there, some good characters and an ever lovely Christmas story, this is a good choice if you feel like taking it easy and getting in to the mood for Christmas and whether you find Vince Vaughn a little offensive or not, if you have a love for Christmas you'll enjoy this film.