Christmas with the Kranks

This Christmas movie is one of my favorites. Great cast and story.

I saw this movie on tv this past holiday and I enjoyed it so I figured I would add it to my collection. Good acting, and a little bit of a different plot than most Christmas movies, so it is a nice change of pace. The ending though is somewhat strange and awkward, but I wont give it away for those who havent seen the movie. Basically when the Kranks daughter says she isnt going to be there for Christmas, they decide to go on a cruise and essentially boycott Christmas. This causes problems within their neighborhood which is full of Christmas tradition and Cheer. But once their daughter surprises them with a phone call that she and her fiance will actually make it for Christmas, they need to abort their plans and try to throw together a Christmas atmosphere. An entertaining movie.

Funny move.

Love EVERYTHING about this movie!

Its a little odd, and perhaps jarring, to see the actors noted for edgy work do what amounts to a family oriented christmas film. Laurie noted for running from Jason and stripping in trading places, Cheech and his sendup and aggrandizement of drug culture, and Tim whose professional life is distinctly different from his on-screen performances. But what do I think of the movie? Its a bit pat and slightly over the top in a saccharine sort of way. This is definitely make female audience feel good territory by emphasizing the relationships between the neighbors in this film, and how a community fractures and bonds with the intents, adventures and misadventures of the Kranks. And on that note Im tempted to give it two-stars because I just didnt find it all that entertaining. Interesting in the sense that I didnt know they still made films like this, and even more interesting in that it utilizes actors known for some work that is far from family friendly, The script is fairly innocent to the point of being naive in the extreme to create a kind of friendly and adversarial environment without much in the way of common sense. And to me that separates it from christmas films of decades past in that it really placates to the target audience, and doesnt really give an inch for any kind of other humor than allegedly innocent or borderline racy without being risque gags. In a sense corporate Hollywood has (or had) gone back to old fashioned films, but for me, its day late, dollar short, and really just odd beyond belief that it was cast the way it was. That, and the story, to be honest, really isnt that good. Theres a lot of reliance on what will people think as the premise for nearly all fo the humor in this thing. Its light entertainment, but again, unlike other seasonal films of generations past theres little satisfaction after watching this thing.

One of my all time favorite Christmas movies!!

Funny holiday story - obviously a comedy - I am a fan of Jamie Lee Curtis... Im ok with Tim Allen - together they are funny. Story goes that adult daughter is leaving for the peace corps and wont be home for Christmas - Mom (Jamie Lee Curtis) loves the celebration of Christmas and is sad that her only child wont be home. They live in a tight knit nosey neighborhood. Tim Allen gets the idea they could skip Christmas and take a sunny warm cruise instead. Neighbors are unhappy the Kranks are skipping Christmas and then the daughter announces she will be coming home for Christmas after all with a fiance to boot. Lightweight story but sometimes you want something new at the holidays. We usually fit this one in. We purchase the streaming version so we dont have to store the DVD.

Not going to spoil it for anyone... Great cast

Laughing, crying, vomiting, it does it all for you.

OK its not like the best movie of all time, thats pretty clear, but Christmas movies are supposed to be light-hearted and fun and thats exactly what this movie is. I find it entertaining every holiday to spend a good time with the family.. its on the top of my list of Christmas classics to watch every year