Fred Claus
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: November 9, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
42
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
16
Negative:
9
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
PremiereLaura Repstad
Silly, heartwarming, and fun. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerAndy Spletzer
Overall the movie is a mess, with a mixed-up mythology at its core. It may not be a new holiday classic, but at least it's funny. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Fred Claus sells you something you didn't know you wanted: a Vince Vaughn Christmas movie. Vaughn is not the hook. Neither is the holiday. The script, by Dan Fogelman, is smarter than that. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Deftly blending disrespect and good nature, Fred Claus is a gas. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
The sweetest thing about Fred Claus is that the message about filial love feels genuine. I wouldn't have expected that watching Giamatti tell Vaughn, "You're the best big brother anyone could ask for," would make me choke up, but it did. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneSid Smith
Fred Claus seems a clever installment, not a seasonal classic, a buffet whose many nibbles you sample, move on and quickly forget. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The surprisingly puny haul comes from the jolly, usually sparkling comedy workshop of David Dobkin, who directed "Wedding Crashers," and Dan Fogelman, who wrote "Cars" -- two great movies that both make better stocking stuffers. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Fred Claus is less enchanting than the 2003 fairy tale, "Elf" (which was directed by Vaughn's good buddy, Jon Favreau), but no worse than the inexplicably popular Tim Allen series. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie wants to be good-hearted but is somehow sort of grudging. It should have gone all the way. I think Fred Claus should have been meaner if he was going to be funnier, and Santa should have been up to something nefarious, instead of the jolly old ho-ho-ho routine. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Leave it to Giamatti to bring gravitas to the fat guy in the red suit; he's naturally the straight man in the sibling duo, but whenever Fred Claus goes for the heartstrings, he's the only one capable of plucking in tune. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Yet another ho-hum family comedy hits screens this weekend -- this one in peppermint holiday flavor. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Fred Claus does feature some very nicely groomed reindeer, a far cry from those patchy, depressed-looking creatures you see every holiday season at the petting zoo. They're prancing and dancing as fast as they can, but they can't pull Fred Claus from the rut it's in. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Neither here nor there, the film is “Elf” without the goofy jokes, Will Ferrell or heart, “Bad Santa” without the smut, Billy Bob Thornton or spleen. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Like so many secular, big-studio Christmas comedies, this isn't naughty enough to be funny or nice enough to be uplifting; it's just an ugly sweater from a distant relative, thoughtlessly sent and destined to be thrown away. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen Cole
As for Vaughn, he seems exhausted by his strenuous efforts to bring a few sparks of spontaneity to such an overcalculated Christmas product. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The movie has a terrible premise compounded by a lame script and the miscasting of its surfeit of talented stars. You have to wonder why Dobkin, whose last film was the hilariously raunchy "Wedding Crashers," would be attracted to this tame material. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Freely mixing reality therapy, fairy tale and satire, Dobkin's film does not maintain a consistent tone. Is it a seriocomedy about brothers who need to work on unfinished business? Is it a holiday fable about a Scrooge who comes to surf the yuletide? Is it a satire in which an efficiency expert (Kevin Spacey) puts pressure on St. Nick to outsource gift allocation and distribution? Read full review
40
Village VoiceMichelle Orange
The exceptional cast--Vaughn, Giamatti, Kathy Bates, Kevin Spacey, Rachel Weisz--is an embarrassment of riches for a script this thin and this beholden to family-fare protocol, with its mushy-minded moral and slick sentimentality. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The film isn't just not funny, it is off-putting. Read full review
40
VarietyBrian Lowry
Alternates between unpleasantness and Hallmark-sweet sappiness. Read full review
40
TimeRichard Corliss
The movie is less ho-ho-ho than uh-oh, or oh-no. Emitting a stale odor from the first reel, Fred never engaged the audience of kids and adults that I saw it with. Read full review
40
EmpireWilliam Thomas
It creates a seasonal glow, but inconsistencies keep Fred Claus off the ‘Nice’ list this Christmas. Read full review
38
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The story vacillates between broad, kid-friendly gags and a series of oddly sour riffs on the theme of adult sibling rivalry. Read full review
38
Miami HeraldCarla Meyer
A lackluster holiday-theme comedy featuring production design half a notch above a snow globe and a star who doesn't so much act as revive a well-worn persona. Read full review
33
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Few things are more dispiriting than a holiday movie straining to become a perennial. Such is the case with Fred Claus, an insipid Christmas comedy. Read full review
33
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Is there anything more pathetic than a movie that will do anything for a laugh or a tear that doesn't get any laughs or tears? Read full review
30
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Vaughn's con-man jive doesn't get much play in this one; he spends most of his time as a bitter creep, and the writing (by Dan Fogelman) isn't sharp enough to make the hipster-at-the-North-Pole theme pay off in any meaningful way. Read full review
30
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Fred Claus is belligerently unfunny. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
This is just plain bad - and it's a surprise. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleToddy Burton
Fred Claus is sadly just an early lump of coal under the tree. Read full review
12
New York PostKyle Smith
Not like a lump of coal in your stocking. Coal is useful; you can burn it. This movie is more like a lump of something Blitzen left behind after eating a lot of Mexican food. Read full review
More From This Movie

42 Critic Reviews

8.1 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL