SANTA’S BROTHER IS COMING TO TOWN.
Fred Claus (Vince Vaughn) is in trouble and needs money; his brother (Paul Giamatti), who happens to be Santa, is willing to give him a loan only if he comes to the North Pole and works for it. Director David Dobkin reunited with Vaughn after Wedding Crashers (2005), but there isn’t a single funny joke here. The filmmakers try to compensate by including dull slapstick and mushy sentimentality. The idea of slapping average-sized men’s faces onto the bodies of dwarfs makes for very odd-looking elves.
2007-U.S. 115 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by David Dobkin. Cast: Vince Vaughn (Fred Claus), Paul Giamatti (Nick Claus), John Michael Higgins (Willie), Miranda Richardson, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates… Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Kevin Spacey, Elizabeth Banks. Cameos: Frank Stallone, Roger Clinton, Stephen Baldwin.
