The Good

An enjoyable Christmas film for all ages.

The Bad

This film too often telegraphs every single move that it makes.Fred Claus (Vince Vaughn) is the complete opposite of his brother Santa (Paul Giamatti). Fred is living by his wits, hustling people on the street, and generally being a nuisance to society. Santa has devoted his life to making children happy with his singular focus being his preparations for December 25th. Fred no longer cares about Christmas and this troubles Santa greatly. However, when it looks like the North Pole might be closed down because it isn't efficient enough, Santa enlists the help of his shady brother and together they try and save the world's greatest holiday.

Features

High Definition Extras:

Pause for Claus: Elves Tell All

This featurette looked really sharp as Chief Elf Willie takes viewers behind the scenes of life in the North Pole. While this featurette is for comical purposes only, what it manages to do is give people a faux look at how life might actually be in that part of the world. Provided that you are part of Santa's posse and all.

Ludacrismas

Sibling Rivalry

While I am not sure that this featurette needed to look as good as it does here, anything with Frank Stallone is good in my book. This featurette gives us testimonial videos from Vince Vaughn, Stephen Baldwin, Roger Clinton and the aforementioned Frank Stallone. There was a sharpness to this talking head piece that almost was too clear in parts. Overall, worth a watch if you are a fan of this movie.

Meet the Other Claus

Blu-ray Exclusive Bonus Disc Game

Titled Fred Claus: Race to Save Christmas this high definition game is just that. While I put it in my player and only had time to do minimal clicking around, I loved how vibrant the colors were in this game. While it certainly isn't something that is going to make game-makers and lovers hail a breakthrough, based on looks alone this game is worth taking for a spin.

Standard Definition Features:

- 25 Minutes of Additional Scenes

- Vince and Paul's Fireside Chats

- Commentary Track by Director David Dobkin

Video

1080p High Definition - 16x9 - 2.4:1. This movie was almost too clear on my Sony player and Samsung TV. There was a richness to all the colors but at times I could tell where Vince Vaughn's make-up person had missed a spot. There were moments (mainly exterior shots of the city) where things almost had too much of video look. It was as if the second unit and first unit photographers used different film stocks. Whatever the case, this film may not have been made for Blu-ray but it sure looks good in the format.

Audio

Dolby Digital: English 5.1, French 5.1, Spanish 5.1, Japanese 5.1, Portugues 5.1. This motion picture is also subtitled in all of these languages. Things sounded really good here but I must admit, just because this film is on Blu-ray disc does not mean that it is 100% meant to be in the format. While the audio was crisp, I never got the feeling that the creative team behind this film was thinking about that when they were making this movie.

Package

Vince Vaughn commandeers the sled on this embossed slip cover while Paul Giamatti holds on for dear life. The back portion gives us two shots from this movie, technical specs, a well written description, a Special features listing, a cast list and technical specs. The cover on the actual disc itself is exactly the same. There are three discs in this set. One houses the movie, the other houses the video game and there is another one that stores the digital copy for use on your PC or portable movie player.

Final Word

All in all Fred Claus er than I expected. Was it the greatest movie I have ever seen? I would have to say no. That distinction falls to a little movie called A Christmas Story. However, Fred Claus isn't without its charms. Seeing Vince Vaughn again play the loudmouthed character that he has become known for was a bit stale here. At the same time, Paul Giamatti plays a rather original Santa Claus. He just seemed "on" in this role. He really met the part at the gate and never seemed to be hamming it up for the cameras.

While this movie never seems to break new ground, Fred Claus, without any sequels or promotional tie-ins or any other crap... as just a stand alone movie for people to view as a one off opportunity, is a wholly enjoyable experience.