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Title: Christmas with the Kranks (2004)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Tim Allen | ... | Luther Krank | |
| Jamie Lee Curtis | ... | Nora Krank | |
| Dan Aykroyd | ... | Vic Frohmeyer | |
| M. Emmet Walsh | ... | Walt Scheel | |
| Elizabeth Franz | ... | Bev Scheel | |
| Erik Per Sullivan | ... | Spike Frohmeyer | |
| Cheech Marin | ... | Officer Salino | |
| Jake Busey | ... | Officer Treen | |
| Austin Pendleton | ... | Umbrella Santa / Marty | |
| Tom Poston | ... | Father Zabriskie | |
| Julie Gonzalo | ... | Blair Krank | |
| René Lavan | ... | Enrique Decardenal | |
| Caroline Rhea | ... | Candi | |
| Felicity Huffman | ... | Merry | |
| Patrick Breen | ... | Aubie | |
As strange as it may sound, the Kranks, the award-winning couple for their cheerful Christmas spirit, have decided for the first time, to skip this year's annual festivities when their daughter, Blair, departs for Peru, after joining the Peace Corps. With the intention to save the staggering amount of $6,000-plus spent on previous year's holiday season, the Kranks are determined to invest the money on a sun-drenched, 10-day Caribbean cruise, much to their friends and neighbours chagrin. However, that is easier said than done, and before long, menacing phone calls and angry protests on the snow-covered pavements will betray that there is definitely no easy way out for the traitorous couple who has turned its back on Christmas. And then, unexpectedly, Blair and her new fiancé are coming home, unbeknownst to them that the empty family nest is far from ready for the event. Can the Kranks "generate" Christmas out of nothing in less than a few hours? Written by Nick Riganas
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This holiday season forget the decorations and skip the parties; instead, celebrate this Christmas with the Kranks. They are the family that knows how to spread a little holiday cheer and how you may ask??? Why by boycotting it altogether of course. Yes, you heard right: No Christmas. No gift exchanges, office parties, charitable donations, or Frosty up on the roof because this will be the first Christmas for the Kranks without their daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo). Feeling depressed and lonely, the Kranks decided that the best thing to do was to skip the holiday festivities this year and become just a little bit selfish this year. Instead, they will be spending this Christmas on a cruise. With thoughts of sun-bathing dancing around in their heads, the Kranks only have to overcome two more obstacles before they can step onto that cruise: the neighbors and their own conscience.
Based on a John Grisham novel entitled 'Skipping Christmas,' Christmas with the Kranks explores one town's eerie obsession with the holidays as well as one family's struggle against conventionality and selfishness. And while this may seem a little National Lampoon-ish, the slapstick humor works well with the storyline, plus with Tim Allen and Dan Akroyd starring, you know that this film would not have been complete without someone falling off the roof. It's just inevitable. However, some might argue that the town takes the holiday season a bit too seriously while I, on the other hand, beg to differ. Christmas is a season notorious for giving and selflessness but the Kranks, having been forced to spend the holidays without their daughter, appear to be consumed with only looking out for themselves and going on the cruise. In this sense, the town is acting as a stabilizing factor. They realize that the Kranks are blinded by their egotism and would like to remind them of what the holidays are truly about.
Both Jamie Lee Curtis and Tim Allen provide an on screen dynamic that they both feed off of. They are extremely genuine throughout the entire movie and absolutely appear to have just stepped off of the Home Improvement set. And while Tim Allen provides the bulk of the slapstick comedy, I was surprised to see Jamie Lee joining in on the shtick. But no movie is complete without my little complaints. No movie is absolutely perfect, remember. In certain scenes, there was this awkward camera focusing that confused me a bit. I doubt it was noticeable to any one else but me because that's the kind of reviewer I am (Well, technically not a movie reviewer. I sort of fell into the role). I notice all of the weird stuff that happens and provide them to you: our loyal readers.
Christmas with the Kranks could undoubtedly stand out as the most misunderstood movie of the season and worthy of going up against Polar Express, this season's ultimate holiday movie. It's a movie that both kids and adult will enjoy and that's honestly saying a lot. Come on, we all saw the trailers and said to ourselves 'What the *uck!?!? (censored for our younger readers but I think you get the idea)' because I know I did. But I soon found myself eating those very words by the end of the movie and soon learned a very valuable lesson: Don't judge a movie by the trailer!