Christmas With The Kranks DVD Review:

When their daughter Blair (Gonzalo) leaves to join the Peace Corps, Luther (Allen) and Nora (Curtis) Krank realise that Christmas just won’t be the same now that she has gone. Calculating that they spent over $6000 on Christmas last year, Luther comes up with a plan to go on vacation over the festive season. It will be far cheaper and they will actually be able to save money but the only thing is that they will have to tell everyone that they are skipping Christmas.

Hollywood and the Christmas movie is a very mixed bag, so is ‘Christmas with the Kranks’ on Santa’s good list or does it get a piece of coal? Put it this way, as least the Kranks will be very warm this festive season as this movie is so bad that they will be getting a full sack of coal.

Based on the novel by John Grisham, a writer more known for his legal dramas, and adapted by Chris Columbus (Harry Potter), the early signs were not that bad. Casting comedic stalwarts Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis made the movie promising. It also starts quite well as the Kranks struggle to avoid the festive season completely, much to the disbelief of their friends, colleagues and neighbours. Then it starts to fall apart.

When they find out that Blair is coming back for Christmas, the film falls into the typical Hollywood version of how the festive season should be. Christmas spirit and the gift of giving is forced down your throat until you end up feeling as stuffed as a Yuletide turkey. This is sickly sweet stuff that will make you cringe more that smile as the film descends in travesty of Christmas clichés and an ending that will make you feel sick because of its sugary goodness.

You really do feel sorry for Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. Anyone who has seen the marvellous Galaxy Quest or even his much better Christmas movie, The Santa Clause, will know that Tim Allen is a fine comedic actor. In the first half of the movie he gets the chance to show this but as the film progresses even an actor of his standard can’t make the material more watchable. Formally known more for her body than her acting talent, Jamie Lee Curtis reinvented herself in ‘Freaky Friday’. As Nora Krank she continues this reinvention but again the script lets her down. She simply doesn’t have enough to do apart from scream her daughter’s name every time she calls home.

The supporting cast don’t fair much better. The highlight of Dan Aykroyd’s performance is watching how big his bald patch has grown. Cheech Marin and Jake Busey deserve much better than this and Julie Gonzalo as Blair, has nothing much to do than look beautiful.

Christmas with the Kranks optimises everything that is wrong with Hollywood’s version of the holiday season. It is another slice of middle class Americana that is far too fake and uninteresting to make any kind of impression. This could have been an interesting look at the over commercialism of the festive holiday but instead we have a run of the mill, sugar coated version of Christmas that will leave you feeling more sick than festive.

Star Rating = *

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is good.

BONUS FEATURES

Hanging Lights on Hemlock Street (15.19 mins)
Production designer Garreth Strover, Holiday Design Expert Cathy Ball and Holiday Lighting Expert James Costigan use the same techniques as they used to decorate the street in ‘Christmas with the Kranks’. They show you how to design you Christmas decorations for the outside of your house, the equipment, lighting, garlands and wreaths that you will need to make you house standout during the Holiday season. This is extremely American and over the top, as it would cost a fortune to do the same in your own home.

Trailers
Previews of ‘Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild’, ‘The Legend of Zorro’, ‘Zathura’, ‘Are we there yet?’, ‘Bewitched’ and ‘The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl’.

OVERALL

A lacklustre Christmas movie gets an even worse DVD treatment. With only a Christmas decoration featurette to accompany it, this is a real let down to any fan of the film (if there is any). The lack of a commentary, making of… or even interviews with the cast and crew, means that this is a really uninspiring release.



Jamie Kelwick