Christmas with the Kranks - A Movie Review

Do you really think we can get everything set up in time for the Christmas party?

Christmas with the Kranks is a 2004 film. When their daughter goes to Peru for the holiday, Luther and Nora Krank decide to skip Christmas and go on a cruise. The neighborhood is anything but happy about this idea. At the last minute, they need to throw a Christmas Eve party together.

I remember seeing Christmas with the Kranks in the theater. Christmas with the Kranks is one of those holiday films that I like for its variety of characters, I have mixed opinions regarding the cold accusations made toward the main characters. Holidays should be spent however way you want.

Luther and Nora Krank are going to skip Christmas. Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis were both great, but like the other characters in the film, they come off as mean-spirited. Allen and Curtis do a good job displaying their relationship but lack communication.

It’s time to talk about the neighborhood. This is not a neighborhood I’d live in. The Kranks skipping Christmas causes such chaos and dispirited opinions. Their actions have been the talk of viewers for a decade now. Christmas with the Kranks introduced us to many characters. Aside from Christmas, I wonder how the neighbors treat each other year-round.

I like the cast. The ensemble for this film has appeared in a variety of films. This was the first film I was introduced to M. Emmet Walsh. Dan Akroyd makes a memorable appearance. Recognize Julie Gonzalo? She played the bully in Freaky Friday, another film Curtis was in.

More credits include Elizabeth Franz, Erik Per Sullivan, Cheech Marin, Jake Busey, Austin Pendleton, Rene Lavan, and the final film appearance by Tom Poston.

My favorite subplot (and I know viewers don’t like it) involves the mysterious Marty (Austin Pendleton). It makes the movie. His subplot makes no sense which is why I wish that the film centered around this. Christmas with the Kranks switches tones. Is it meant to be serious or a whimsical comedy?

I enjoyed the second half of the film more than the first. It’s filler. We get that the Kranks are skipping Christmas but did we have to sit through repetitive and cold opinions of the other characters? We didn’t need scenes like the tanning salon, random botox surgery, or other mean-spirited scenes.

It didn’t finish the storylines. The film has one too many subplots involving the side characters. Why are we getting to know the side characters? The Kranks are the focal point.

With how mean-spirited the characters are, how are we supposed to empathize with them? Upon re-listening to Frohmeyer’s (Akroyd) speech to the neighborhood, He outright states that nobody is fond of Luther. I am surprised that they still enlist help from him and the neighborhood.

Why did Joe Roth have to make Christmas with the Kranks so mean-spirited? That’s what ruins it from being an enjoyable holiday film. The neighbors are so obsessed with the Kranks’ lack of Christmas spirit that one person chases Nora in her car down the street!

Christmas has a different definitions amongst several people. We should respect opinions. For instance, some people don’t celebrate Christmas. I’m curious to see what the characters say about that.

Arguments aside, Christmas with the Kranks is funny when not forced. The level of humor is not maintained throughout. Christmas with the Kranks is a comedy which is what we need in all holiday films. Despite its flaws, I still watch it whenever I see it on TV.