It's not even Thanksgiving yet

Sigh, before I begin this review I would like to say that Christmas with the Kranks has almost a 5 out of 10 on IMDB but Rotten Tomatoes has it at 5% fresh rating. Anyway, after fruitlessly searching for a really bad movie that I would not have to leave the comfort of my couch to watch I stumbled on a gem. Christmas with the Kranks was in a list I has seen at movies below 15%, luckily my family just happened to have it and I popped it into the DVD player. I thought it would not be that, after all my family loved it when it came out and it could not be that bad. I was wrong. But, this was not my first mistake. The first was watching this out of season. It is a Christmas movie, plain and simple. It's not even Thanksgiving so I was already in the wrong mood. When the snow started falling in the opening credits I shivered a little and imagined the long cold winter ahead. The rest of the movie was filled with humor that a twelve year old me would have found hilarious. In fact, my little brother Kris, age 8, found it to be one of the funniest things he has ever seen. Admittedly he has that thought every week. He recently enjoyed Grown Ups 2. Ha. So regardless, the humor seems dated, overdone, and for a family in their stages. Teenage cynicism and angst is not welcome. It's full of "dad jokes" and one off gags that deserve a chuckle maybe at most. It can be slightly heartwarming toward the end but it reaches the cheesy scale when a Santa character is introduced. I thought Tim Allen already accidentally killed him? It was like seeing Tim the Toolman Taylor in a different family, he always plays the same character, himself. Jamie Lee Curtis seemed wasted, the only person I felt truly shone was Dan Aykroyd who gave me the only laughs to be had in this film. This movie  is for small families in 2004. It really has nothing to offer for anyone my age or above. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone really. Even as a family heartwarming comedy its subpar. There are plenty of better movies to watch, like The Santa Clause for example if you just can't get enough Buzz Lightyear, erm Tim Allen I mean.
2/5