"Fred Claus" is Vince Vaughn's big effort to jump into mainstream family comedy. He's dominated the R-rated box office, but can the annoying everyman with the tough-guy wit be a force in the land of PG hijinx? The short answer, no.

The film actually begins with an interesting premise - making sense of Santa Claus. Let's assume at one point a boy named Nicolas Claus was born. He was a delightful child who actually ENJOYED giving to others. That annoyed the crap out of his older brother Fred....who actually enjoyed PLAYING with toys rather than giving them away.

Nick continued his generous ways, which only further alienated his brother. Eventually, Nick was made a Saint, which is where the fun begins. In the world of "Fred Claus," Sainthood suspends your life in time. Not only does the Saint cease to age, but all of their direct family members and their spouses share immortality.

Fastforward 1,000 years. Ol' Saint Nick is delivering presents all over the globe. His resentful brother is a repo man living outside of Chicago. Admit it, you're kinda interested! I was! Until it happened. It's as if some guy in a suit arrived on set with a copy of THIS film and said, "Hey, why don't we make a movie like this instead?"



Wow. That guy might be President someday. Anyhow, "Fred Claus" takes an interesting plot and refuses to explore it further. After the 20 minute mark, there would be no further mentions of immortality. No more logic. Just Vince Vaughn running through Chicago, falling down, with lots of silly sound effects.

Movie rule #735b: If you ever find yourself in the editing room....say, adding a *zoinks* sound effect when a character crashes into a stack of toys....lock the door. Call the authorities. Let them know that a creative black hole has opened in Edit 4. They'll know what to do. Call your family and tell them you love them.

I like Vince Vaughn, but "Fred Claus" is a tremendous dissapointment. There is a moment where Vince not only jumps the shark, but he phones Guiness, asks them what the record is for the furthest shark jump, then procedes to smash that record. He then heads on a press tour to promote his achievement. I will not tell you exactly when this moment occurs (it's more fun that way!). Let's just say it include hundreds of poorly CG'd elves...and a song that was cool for about 8 seconds. That was 3 years ago.

A ticket to Fred Claus will cost you $10. It's worth $2...mainly for a great scene that involves the famous Bad Brothers club. As for Vince, let's hope he can put this behind him and get back to what he does best. Potty-mouthed R-rated comedy!

$2/$10