Why is this the first Christmas movie I am reviewing you may ask? Well … opportunity is my only plausible answer. Very simply put – it’s the last Christmas movie I’ve seen. But it’s also a a movie I actually enjoy because it does what holiday movies are supposed to do – remind us (and the characters) what makes this time so special and that presents really aren’t what it is all about.
Is it at times crude and annoying – yeah but then again, have you seen any Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller or Vince Vaughn movies? And you laughed? Right – your argument is invalid. Is Tim Allen an obnoxious person (potentially even a Trump supporter)? Potentially but I simply happen to like him as an actor – he is never too shy to make fun of himself or play a believable asshole. And that’s no small feat, just look at George Clooney who’ll forever be smug but never manages to convincingly play the antagonist (case in point: Ides of March). Then there is Jamie Lee Curtis who on paper shouldn’t have a career other than being an IT girl but in fact is an endearing actress who always manages to convey true emotions.
So you have two pretty decent actors and a story written by John Grisham. Yup – read that correctly – John Grisham, the King of Courtroom Drama on paper (Dick Wolf would be his TV counterpart) wrote a cheesy, stupid, awesome Christmas movie. The book made it to the NY Times bestseller list in 2001 and both book and movie tells the story of Nora and Luther who decide to forgo all Christmas cheer and join a cruise the first year their daughter is not around to celebrate with them. To their surprise (really??? that was such an unbelievable story line) none of their neighbours agree with their lack of holiday spirit. Lead by Dan Akroyd as the leader of the pack, the neighbourhood tries to force them to bring out Frosty the Snowman or simply just decorate and the better part of the movie shows the lengths Nora and Luther go through to NOT do that!
But of course any good Christmas movie has to show it has a heart at the core and any good story has to show some kind of change (ideally growing) done by the leads. And that leads to a rather thoughtful and meaningful finale that might make you reevaluate how and with whom you want to spend Christmas.
Christmas movies in general are not really an Oscar contender (apart from Miracle on 34th Street maybe) so deriding ‘Christmas with the Kranks’ of its quality seems hypocritical. It has great lessons, a reasonable character arch and also helps you reevaluate your Christmas feelings. So go ahead – question my sanity for enjoying this movie, but give it a try and I promise you, it will surprise you!
tothemoviesandbeyond 
Leave a comment