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Christmas with the Kranks

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Christmas with the Kranks (2004)

November. 24,2004
|
5.5
|
PG
| Comedy Family
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When their only daughter Blair leaves the family nest, Luther and Nora Krank decide to book an island cruise to beat the yuletide blues and just skip the holidays. But their decision to boycott tradition has the whole neighborhood in an uproar, and when Blair calls on Christmas Eve to announce a surprise visit with her new fiancée, the Kranks have just twelve hours to perform a miracle and pull themselves and their neighbors together to throw the best celebration ever!

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Wordiezett
2004/11/24

So much average

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Fluentiama
2004/11/25

Perfect cast and a good story

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Console
2004/11/26

best movie i've ever seen.

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MoPoshy
2004/11/27

Absolutely brilliant

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Eric Stevenson
2004/11/28

I'm surprised that the score isn't a lot lower seeing as how frequently this appears on worst Christmas movies lists. I think this is mostly deserving of its hate. The thing with Tim Allen is that a lot of times you expect his movies to be forgettable, but he ends up making really good ones like "Galaxy Quest". This, on the other hand, is probably his worst movie. This movie's plot is that the Kranks are skipping Christmas and their neighbors harass them until they conform. That's the main problem.It would have been wonderful if the film had a scene where the neighbors realized that would they did was wrong. Instead, they never learn their lesson and it turns out they were right the whole time. Even the live-action Grinch movie delivered a better message against materialism! Santa Claus does in fact appear, but it's not revealed until the end of the movie. It ends with Santa riding a car led by reindeer. They couldn't even get Santa right.The characters in this are just dumb. There's a scene where a boy lets out a guy who's in the back of a police car! There's this giant Frosty house ornament that actually seems to come to live and wish destruction on the Kranks. It's just creepy. The message is that we shouldn't stop doing what we've been doing for the longest time. It's about how we shouldn't change and that's a terrible message any movie should send. *

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Prismark10
2004/11/29

This film is actually based on a John Grisham novel but is a misguided misfire that has little by way of symbolism relating to the Christian meaning of Christmas. For goodness sake you have a Catholic priest hanging round a party on Christmas Eve instead of preparing for midnight mass.Luther Krank (Tim Allen) upsets his neighbourhood as he decides not to take in Christmas festivities and instead go on a Caribbean cruise with his wife Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) as their daughter has now left home and joined the Peace Corps. His neighbours are upset with this Scrooge like attitude and try to coerce and shame them into celebrating Christmas like decking the halls, buying gifts and putting Frosty the Snowman up on the roof just as everyone else on the street has done.The film gets syrupy and manipulative at the end as their daughter at the last minute decides to spend Christmas with her family and wants to introduce them to her new fiancé. This means succumbing to the commercialisation of Christmas and now at the last minute they need to buy a tree, honey ham and invite everyone around to their party.This is an artificial and uneven film with a mixed message that relies on Home Alone type antics for a few laughs. No surprise there as it is written by Chris Columbus who directed Home Alone 1 & 2 and directed by Joe Roth who was Head of 20th Century Fox when Home Alone 1 & 2 were released.

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Trimac20
2004/11/30

I'm not even sure why I sat through this film. Even when my attention wasn't fully on it, it still managed to almost put me to sleep, quite literally. For a start there is no real story arc, plot, or any real emotional investment in anything...the film's premise is basically about a couple (well, mostly Tim Allen's character) who want to 'skip' Christmas, and go on a cruise instead, much to the chagrin of their neighbours, who pressure them to...suddenly their daughter, who has just left two weeks ago, tells them she's engaged to a man (in a space of 2 weeks) and wants to surprise them by returning home with him...the usual Christmas-time clichés, surprisingly few real laughs, and all the feel-good tosh, can hardly begin to redeem this snorefest. Tim Allen's 'character' is as flat as cardboard, while it was a bit torturous having to ignore Jamie Lee Curtis' character's irritating screeching and squealing. The only highlight was the pretty scenes of the lit-up houses during a White Christmas, honestly...

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Python Hyena
2004/12/01

Christmas with the Kranks (2004): Dir: Joe Roth / Cast: Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, M. Emmet Walsh, Cheech Marin: If the family name is any indication as to how one is to respond to this film, then this is one of the poorest excuses for holiday entertainment. When their daughter is unable to be home for Christmas, Luther and Nora Krank decide to skip the holiday to go on a cruise, which doesn't set well with the neighbors. The first problem with this garbage is the actions of the neighbors. They protest when the Kranks fail to place Frosty the Snowman on their roof. Why is this any of their business? They harass this couple in a way that is more disturbing than funny. The premise is rushed with jokes that fail miserably and an ending that is phony. Director Joe Roth does his best with the flimsy sets but Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis labor under flat material. Both are terrific performers deserving of material worthy of their talent, which isn't this. Dan Aykroyd, M. Emmet Walsh and Richard "Cheech" Marin play meddling neighbors and not only is this trash bad for the obvious talent involved, the characters being so unlikeable that it tarnishes any empathy that viewers could have. Regardless of any moral contrivance this film is garbage disguised as fun filled holiday holly jolly dancing crap. The film is so mean spirited that it will likely leave you cranky. Score: 1 / 10

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