Christmas with the Kranks
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: November 24, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
22
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
5
Negative:
27
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
VarietyScott Foundas
Ultimately something of a softball satire, its climactic evocation of the "true meaning" of the holidays is surprisingly touching. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Not an abomination, although it is uninspired and insipid. As such, it's perfect television fare. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
A flat parable about the virtues of homespun conformity and the perils of defying family tradition. Read full review
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Above all, Kranks lacks that basic kernel of credibility that even a goofy farce needs to work. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
A Christmas comedy where laughs and even Christmas joy are in short supply. Read full review
40
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Slick and treacherous. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
Phony, disingenuous family entertainment, suffocated by its green bean casserole approach to Middle America, spineless cardboard characters and paper-thin plot "twists." Read full review
38
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Christmas with the Kranks is so calculated that it's pathetic, a warm-hearted holiday greeting card with not one scintilla of honest emotion inside. Read full review
38
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
They pull it off, but even if you believe in Santa, you'll never believe that this is any sort of holiday classic. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
M. Emmet Walsh and Elizabeth Franz enliven the film as a couple across the street...These wonderful old actors briefly raise the level of the picture to the kind of warm but honest drama it ought to have been. Read full review
33
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
In its hostile sitcom way, Christmas With the Kranks is a paranoid comic nightmare of conformity gone mad. Read full review
30
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Hard not to pelt the screen with rotten fruit when confronted with a film like Christmas With The Kranks. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
In any normal year this dire comedy would be the undisputed lump of coal in our psychic stocking, but with "Surviving Christmas" still in theaters it's a close second. Read full review
30
L.A. WeeklyRobert Abele
Other lumps of coal in this celluloid stocking include director Joe Roth's leaden pacing - like trudging through heavy snow - and screenwriter Chris Columbus' tireless affinity for pain gags. Read full review
30
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
Curtis' considerable and diverse talents don't go entirely unused. Read full review
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
It would be one thing if Christmas With the Kranks were a satire on the assaultive, bullying nature of contemporary Christmas celebration in this country, but it's not. It's an ugly glorification of it. Read full review
30
SalonStephanie Zacharek
It's hard to discern exactly whom this holiday tripe is for. Read full review
25
PremierePeter Debruge
Kranks is the type of grim holiday movie that reminds you of all that is noxious and insincere about the Christmas season and then chases it down with a sickly-sweet reversal Read full review
25
USA TodayClaudia Puig
For a comedian (Allen) who often seems to be calling it in, he's more lackluster than usual. Curtis is a bigger disappointment, especially after "Freaky Friday," in which she was funny, smart and cheeky. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Doesn't have anything wrong with it that couldn't be fixed by adding Ebenezer Scrooge and Bad Santa to the cast. It's a holiday movie of stunning awfulness that gets even worse when it turns gooey at the end. Read full review
25
New York PostLou Lumenick
A loud, coarse and witless family comedy. Read full review
25
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A lethargic, lurching holiday-themed comedy. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
Filled with overly processed situations it tries to sell with manic energy, "Kranks" is canned, hammy and rolling as fast as it can. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Its main message is that everyone should believe and behave in exactly the same way. Groupthink wins again! Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Ho, ho, horrible. Read full review
20
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Everyone in the film is mean-spirited, manipulative and repulsive, and I'm only talking about the women! The men are much worse, particularly Dan Aykroyd. Read full review
20
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Bad can't begin to describe Christmas With the Kranks. It's sub-humbug.
20
Village VoiceAkiva Gottlieb
Cringe-worthy spectacle. Read full review
12
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Kranks is a feel-good movie in which every character is hateful (except, sigh, the cancer lady), and a Christmas movie too chickenhearted to mention Jesus. Read full review
10
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
As the year stumbles toward its conclusion and critics begin penning their best-and-worst compendiums, here's a holiday contender fit for the all-time Naughty List. Read full review
10
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
An abysmal failure. Read full review
0
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
When is a holiday stocking more like a smelly gym sock? When it's the malodorous Christmas With the Kranks, a so-called comedy stuffed with bigotry, intolerance and bullying. Read full review
0
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Egregiously mediocre and flagrantly ill-conceived in every department, this is, truly, the cinematic equivalent of finding a single solitary Saltine in your stocking and a pair of old tube socks beneath the tree. Humbug! Read full review
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