Ok. Today I am doing Christmas with the Kranks and I do not know how this review will turn out. You see, the thing is, I like this movie and I think it is fun, entertaining, heartwarming, and enjoyable, but I also recognize that it is a cheap seasonal comedy flick.
Christmas with the Kranks is based off a John Grisham (yes, John Grisham) novel called Skipping Christmas. First off, this is odd. John Grisham, author of crime dramas, espionage, mystery thriller, and war novels, doing a Christmas comedy. The film screenplay is by Chris Columbus who also produced the film. I have mixed feelings about him. He is well known and is either a hit or miss. I think the reason being is that he pumps out too many movies and therefore does not give each one the attention he should.
The plot: It is about a mom and dad (played by Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis) who for the first time since before their daughter was born (23 years) will be spending Christmas alone. Thanks to advertizing doing what it does best, Luther (Mr. Crank) decides\after crunching the numbers and discovering that they spent over $6,000 last year on Christmas, that if they don’t do all that stuff this year, they could afford to take a Caribbean cruise that only costs $3,000.
However, they live on one of those block communities where every house has to have their grass cut at a certain length and all that nonsense. The neighborhood acts like a bunch of jerks having a problem with the Cranks not celebrating Christmas which really isn’t that big of a deal. However, Luther too, is also too stubborn on everything and his wife is also crazy.
The twist comes when Blaire (their daughter) calls them the day before Christmas Eve to tell them she will in fact be home for Christmas and bringing her boyfriend no less.
In the end, everyone is bit of a jerk towards each other not understanding the others side. However, there is a great message about how groups can be crazy and that individuals have their rights.
The movie does have a wonderful heartfelt ending that I think is great. I am a big fan of good endings and I think they are quite important to making a good film. Some of the comedy in this is silly I know, however, most Christmas comedies are lacking in being quality films and I would say that this is one of the better ones.
The movie has a great eclectic cast, good acting, and decent cinematography, with a few lousy affects. I give it 2.75 out of 5 for being fun and watchable, but not fantastic.
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