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Notes:
Luther Krank decides to skip Christmas and all the surrounding trappings and go on a vacation with his wife Nora instead. But when his daughter decides, at the last minute, to come home for the holidays, he is forced to put Christmas back together.
Comedy - A typical (formula) Christmas comedy with a lightweight story and
several heartwarming, feel-good moments. It's almost certainly
exactly what you expect it to be.
Tim Allen THE SANTA CLAUSE 2, BIG TROUBLE, JOE SOMEBODY Jamie Lee Curtis FREAKY FRIDAY, HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION Dan Aykroyd 50 FIRST DATES, THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION Erik Per Sullivan UNFAITHFUL Cheech Marin SPY KIDS, PAULIE Jake Busey IDENTITY, TOMCATS, HELD UP, HOME FRIES Director:Joe Roth AMERICA'S SWEETHEART, BLACK HAWK DOWN
PROFANITY: Only profanity is damn once. SEX/NUDITY: None VIOLENCE: None DRUGS/ALCOHOL: None ACTION: One mild scene of beer drinking. COMEDY: Quite a bit of humor. I counted 21 chuckles and 3 laughs.
The above rating is an average of the critic reviews below.
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Berardinelli, Internet CriticFull Review Average Christmas with the Kranks is not an abomination, although it is uninspired and insipid. As such, it's perfect television fare. That way, once you've had your fill of spending time with this family, you can turn the channel and watch the Yule Log burn for a while.
Roger EbertFull Review Poor 'Christmas With the Kranks' 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.
PremiereFull Review Poor From where I sat, 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 in which the Kranks have to suck up to their neighbors in order to pull off an 11th-hour Christmas party. Personally, the best thing about skipping Christmas is getting to dismiss lame movies like this and concentrating instead on the great award-worthy fare that hits theaters this time of year.
Note: The rating
above is our interpretation of what the critic would give this movie based on
their review. We are not affiliated with these critic's in any way.
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DETAILED OPINIONS
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OPINION OVERVIEW The following is the original "What's Worth
Watching" write-up for this movie.
Moviegoer Opinions:
We collected 124 moviegoer opinions. Great Opinions! Not fantastic, but certainly better than what the critics would have you believe. Lots of "Fantastic" and "Excellent" opinions and virtually no low opinions which is great, especially for a silly formula comedy. The opinions went down some as the moviegoer's age increased, but not by a significant amount.
Treat your family to an early Christmas present and GO SEE "CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS."
After faithfully and happily celebrating Christmas their entire lives, and
with their daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) in Peru to serve a stint in the Peace
Corps, Luther (Tim Allen) and Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) Krank are facing the
prospect of a very lonely holiday.
One blustery Chicago night, Luther glances longingly at an alluring poster in
a travel agency window and pictures himself and Nora basking in the glow of the
sun on a Caribbean cruise. What if this Christmas there was no tree, no holiday
lights, no fruitcakes, no parties, no decorating, no Christmas?
Though Nora is at first reluctant about going away for the holidays, she soon
warms to the idea. But when their neighbors up and down Hemlock Streek find out,
they are aghast, especially local busybody Vic Frohmeyer (Dan Aykroyd). Among
the other injured parties are local police officers Salino (Cheech Marin) and
Treen (Jake Busey), as well as Luther's neighborhood sparring partner Walt
Scheel (M. Emmet Walsh).
The Kranks are skipping Christmas? Unimaginable. Unthinkable. Unbearable. To
make matters worse, Luther refuses to put his illuminated Frosty the Snowman on
his rooftop. Every house has a Frosty on its rooftop at Christmas. Hemlock
Street is famous for it and has won numerous contests sponsored by the local
newspaper for its Yuletide decorations.
The battle of wits between the Kranks and their neighbors quickly escalates,
threatening the harmony of the community and, yes, the spirit of Christmas
itself.
Then, without warning, Luther and Nora get a phone call from Blair.
She's coming home for Christmas after all.
Now the Kranks have less than twenty-four hours to get themselves and all the
families on Hemlock Street back in the proper Christmas spirit.
