My Movie Review on Christmas with the Kranks
Happy holidays, my friends.
This is your jolly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
And today, for my ninth "Christmas Craze" installment, I'm gonna be presenting to you guys my review on perhaps one of the most underrated Christmas comedies of all-time: "Christmas with the Kranks".
Here's the summary of it:
Having decided that there was no worth in celebrating Christmas at home without their daughter around, Luther and Nora Krank decide to skip Christmas and take a vacation on a Caribbean cruise instead.
This move is much to the shock and anger of their neighbors. Especially that of Vic Frohmeyer, who wants the Kranks to decorate their house in order for the neighborhood to win an award.
Will the Kranks be able to make it through their days of being considered outcasts? Or not?
What's more, is skipping Christmas just to take a vacation really what the Kranks want?
First off, I'd like to say that this film isn't flawless. So, before I get to the positives, I'd like to start this review by listing the only negative I found in this movie, mainly in reference to the negative reputation it has.
The only element that I personally couldn't help but feel disgruntled by was while Nora Krank was wearing her swimsuit during the tanning booth scene. At the top area, I found that much of Nora's breasts seemed indecently exposed, and so I often worked myself into looking away. In whatever case, it felt...inappropriate for a PG-rated film.
However...
The direction by Joe Roth, and the screenplay by Chris Columbus, were all pretty spot-on. It looked like the two of them definitely put their heads together in creating this movie too, particularly according to Columbus not just being screenwriter but co-producer.
The humor that was incorporated throughout was extremely well-executed and fun, and there was an innocence about it that didn't seem mean-spirited even as a slapstick comedy. For instance, the part where Luther was trying to eat and drink not long after having a botox injection was hysterical! I get that the story may seem unusual because of how much the Kranks's neighbors were trying to push them into celebrating Christmas, but that's actually what made it so funny.
The film wasn't without heart and moral either. It teaches that you should put the needs and wants of others above your own, and how great it is to be part of a community that's kind and loving. The final act in particular was extremely heartwarming.
The performances of the cast, the characters, and character development were astounding. I may not know exactly what they look like at a full 100%, but I thought the cast did an excellent job at getting into their parts and generating perfect comedic-timings, particularly Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Dan Aykroyd. The character development of Luther, out of all of them, was the one I enjoyed the most.
The music, composed by John Debney, was additionally enjoyable. I love how Debney was able to capture the spirit of a Christmas-comedy, as well as how emotionally-engaging he made the music to get audiences into the story and reflect the feelings of the characters.
In the end, "Christmas with the Kranks" isn't perfect, but it's actually extremely fun and underrated. If anything, it feels like the only reason this film was so "negatively" received was because people were looking for any opportunity to pick on Tim Allen because of being a Conservative and Republican.
So, I rate "Christmas with the Kranks" 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.
