Episode #714: Fred Claus (Patreon)

“What I don’t understand, is how he does not have a guest room for people to come visit him!” - Chris on Santa’s accommodations

On our final episode of 2023, we’re racing toward New Year’s to get away from the exhausting ghost of Christmas Movies Past that is, Fred Claus! Why did they have Rachel Weisz’s character be a traffic cop? Is Vince’s character seriously trying to open a brand-new OTB in 2007? How did we let a fun Giamatti Santa performance get lost in this dreck? And how unsettling did these elf special effects need to be, my god?! PLUS: How many times does this movie rip off Elf? Try to keep track!

Fred Claus stars Vince Vaughn, Elizabeth Banks, John Michael Higgins, Miranda Richardson, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates, Trevor Peacock, Ludacris, Jeremy Swift, Kevin Spacey, and Paul Giamatti as Nick ‘Santa’ Claus; directed by David Dobkin.

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Original cover art by Felipe Sobreiro.