Review: Christmas with the Kranks

Filed under: Reviews

In the 80s, we had John Hughes (Breakfast Club, Home Alone) with his hybrid of comedy and pathos. These days, we have Chris Columbus, who directed the first two Harry Potter movies and wrote the screenplay for this 95-minute version of Home Improvement.

Based on the John Grisham novel "Skipping Christmas", Tim Allen plays Luther Krank and Jamie Lee Curtis is his wife Nora. When their daughter Blair is sent to Peru with the Peace Corps on American Thanksgiving, Luther has a brainstorm: they won't celebrate Christmas, they'll go on a cruise.

Well, wouldn't you know it, the neighbors get upset because it's just wrong not to celebrate Christmas. Wackiness and pratfalls can't be far off. But, Blair has a change of plans and decides to come home for the holidays. The Kranks have just 12 hours to prepare for her arrival, and through the help of the neighbors, led by Dan Aykroyd, they make it just in time. To show us how lucky we are with our small problems, one of the neighbors is sick with cancer. Luther gives her a great Christmas present because, you know, it might be her last one.

Jamie Lee Curtis, who celebrated her 46th birthday on November 22nd, looks great, and i don't mean in the nip and tuck world of Hollywood. She's not afraid to show the lines in her face and her un-Kate Moss-like body.

You won't see Christmas with the Kranks at the Oscars, but it was directed by Joe Roth, who produced the 2004 Academy Awards telecast. It's hard to dislike Christmas movies, unless they feature Ben Affleck, but this movie could have been so much more. Then again, maybe not...

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