“A hilarious Christmas comedy about what happens when you skip Christmas”

Christmas is a time of laughter and joy, when putting up Christmas trees and building snowmen in front of the house is a ritual for most families.

But, in the Christmas comedy “Christmas With The Kranks,” director Joe Roth and screenwriter Chris Columbus show us what would happen if we decided to skip Christmas entirely.

Luther Krank (Tim Allen) and his wife, Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) are alone on Christmas, since their daughter Blair is off to Peru on a Peace Corps mission. Luther, the clever man he is, comes to the conclusion that by decorating their house, buying Christmas gifts and throwing Christmas Eve parties, they spent 6,000 dollars each year. He and Nora decide that they’re going to take a break from the ol’ Christmas routine and go on a cruise (which will cost them 3,000 dollars less).

When the neighbors find out about their little ploy to skip Christmas, they decide it’s not right and they try to convince the Kranks to put up their decorations and their Frosty (a snowman that every neighbor has). The ringleader of the neighbor group is Vic Frohmeyer (Dan Aykroyd). Vic is the epitome of Christmas spirit. He believes that if someone isn’t in the holiday spirit, then they’re sinning. He constantly tries to get the Kranks to change their minds.

Finally, on Christmas Eve, the day before the Kranks are going to leave on their cruise, their daughter calls them up and tells them “good news.”

She’s coming home for Christmas after all. This results in a last minute scramble by the Kranks to get the Christmas decorations set up before their daughter gets home.

Overall, the movie was all right. I can’t say that it was the greatest movie ever to hit theaters, because it most definitely wasn’t. The dialogue was extremely cheesy in most parts of the movie, the acting seemed to be really bad at some points, and the ending was your classic yuppie ending where everything turns out right. But just because it was a yuppie ending doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a GOOD yuppie ending. It makes you feel all warm and nice inside.

Tim Allen basically saved the movie from being a bomb. He brings laughs everywhere he goes. Everything from his facial expressions to his voice made me chuckle. Jamie Lee Curtis seemed to be there just to annoy everyone. All she did was squeal and cry throughout the entire movie. Dan Aykroyd delivered an all right performance. This definitely wasn’t his movie to shine.

What is the most disappointing is that the movie doesn’t really stay true to the John Grisham novel that it was based on, called “Skipping Christmas.” The book was less humorous, but more fun to read. This movie just seems to be a bunch of crazy stunts and laughs all strung together to make a fun, but over the top Christmas comedy. See this movie if you’re really in the holiday mood.

OVERALL GRADE: B

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