StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

GarnettTeenage The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Nadine Salakov Christmas With The Kranks is about a married couple "Luther Krank" (Tim Allen) and "Nora Krank" (Jamie Lee Curtis) who decide to skip Christmas and go on a Caribbean Cruise instead, their grown daughter "Blair Krank" (Julie Gonzalo) is going away for the holidays, so they decide to do something different, their neighbours find out and make their lives miserable.The message of this movie is unclear, the neighbours clearly don't like change and always want everything to stay the same, the Kranks usually throw a Christmas party every year and that must be the main reason why the neighbours are so offended by them skipping Christmas. Bottom line these are two grown adults, it is no one else's business if they choose not to be there for Christmas, but what do you do when the neighbours relentlessly make it their business and cause them constant grief? the answer is NOT to give in! But the Kranks do eventually give in although the neighbours are not the reason for that, we find out that "Blair" is on her way home with her new boyfriend who they've never met and "Nora" decides that they are not going on the cruise and that they are going to put the regular Christmas party together in a few short hours, the neighbours decide to help them, it may seem nice, but don't be fooled, they're only helping them because they're getting their own way, they bullied and harassed the poor couple constantly because they wanted the Christmas party.What this motion picture is saying is to conform, and that is a bad message.The comedy factor is a 1 out of 10, it isn't actually funny, the only funny scene is when "Luther" gets Botox and his face looks dreadful. Another scene that is supposed to be funny, but is just plain awkward is when "Nora" is in her bikini at the mall and the local priest sees her and stops to talk to her, at one point his eyes look her up and down, what the director's motives were for that particular part i don't know, but it is inappropriate and they should not have depicted a priest (of all people) looking at her like that.The Kranks cancelling the cruise because the daughter is returning home is fine, but the plot would have been better if they still didn't do the Christmas party and forget the neighbours and simply explain to "Blair" what has been going on, they could simply just spend Christmas quietly with "Blair" and the boyfriend. If your neighbours were making your life miserable over something that is none of their business, would you want them in your house?The ending is a cop out, it is nice that "Luther" gave the cruise tickets to the old couple across the street, but having all the neighbours in their house and singing cheesy Christmas songs like nothing ever happened is just off. It's true that you're supposed to love your neighbours, but you have to have boundaries.The performances are 80% okay, there's a couple of slapstick scenes that are just awful, one in particular is when the neighbourhood leader or whatever the hell he is "Vic Frohmeyer" (Dan Aykroyd) gets his fingers stuck in the window of "Nora"'s car, both their reactions are cringe- worthy.Overall not a pleasant Christmas flick.

Python Hyena Christmas with the Kranks (2004): Dir: Joe Roth / Cast: Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, M. Emmet Walsh, Cheech Marin: If the family name is any indication as to how one is to respond to this film, then this is one of the poorest excuses for holiday entertainment. When their daughter is unable to be home for Christmas, Luther and Nora Krank decide to skip the holiday to go on a cruise, which doesn't set well with the neighbors. The first problem with this garbage is the actions of the neighbors. They protest when the Kranks fail to place Frosty the Snowman on their roof. Why is this any of their business? They harass this couple in a way that is more disturbing than funny. The premise is rushed with jokes that fail miserably and an ending that is phony. Director Joe Roth does his best with the flimsy sets but Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis labor under flat material. Both are terrific performers deserving of material worthy of their talent, which isn't this. Dan Aykroyd, M. Emmet Walsh and Richard "Cheech" Marin play meddling neighbors and not only is this trash bad for the obvious talent involved, the characters being so unlikeable that it tarnishes any empathy that viewers could have. Regardless of any moral contrivance this film is garbage disguised as fun filled holiday holly jolly dancing crap. The film is so mean spirited that it will likely leave you cranky. Score: 1 / 10

Scarecrow-88 There's an actual scene where Jamie Lee Curtis is going after a runaway ham she paid way too much for and Tim Allen is almost arrested for "borrowing a Christmas tree". It is one of those unfortunate comedy misfires that seemed to pop up a lot around 2004 (like the awful Ben Affleck flick, Surviving Christmas), with too good a cast to be stuck in. Allen nearly kills himself while trying to put a Frosty Snowman figure on the very top of his roof, decides to forgo Christmas with the whole neighborhood up in arms and laying it to them thick for doing so, and purposely plasters water on his driveway so that noisy carolers will slip and fall (!) pretty establishing himself as a major bone of contention during the Holiday Season. Allen wants to use the money normally spent on Christmas festivities and his daughter (gone away to work for the Peace Corps) for a cruise with his wife, but the neighbors are not happy with his decision. Dan Aykroyd is kind of the neighborhood watchdog, a type of respected voice considered a high authority. If he is displeased, then the community backs him. At first, Allen will not decorate, including the Frosty display…this is considered a standard that the neighborhood expects and demands. Allen is at odds with old man M. Emmet Walsh (whose wife is battling cancer), particularly his cat. Their relationship, no matter how strained, doesn't stop Curtis from caring about Walsh and his wife. The film is desperate for laughs: there is a scene where Curtis is attempting to get a tan in a tanning salon, in a bikini, with Tom Poston's priest, among other passersby, catching an eyeful and unable to look elsewhere, while Allen has a botox injection, unable to eat or drink! And the uproar to get a party and decorations together at Allen and Curtis' house before their daughter and her fiancé arrive is a bit far-fetched and rather silly (why not just tell Blair they had planned a cruise and, reason being, her absence was the catalyst in this decision? She is a big girl and can handle disappointment. It is her fault for springing on them her arrival…), but the point of it all is for the Kranks to repair their rift with the neighborhood and to show how the holiday spirit would bring about a coming together and forgiveness. Oh, and the movie wouldn't be complete without a Peruvian ballad! Oh, brother. And Arthur Pendelton, as Marty, who knows people but no one knows him! Cheech Marin and Jake Busey are two cops who have a disregard for Allen over his not buying a calendar from them while not contributing to the cub scouts in buying a tree sets off the animosity of the neighborhood against them. Allen could give tickets to a cruise to two neighbors at the end, but it takes Curtis scolding him in order to do it…he's quite a dick. Curtis, stuck in Christmas sweater and a mop of hair, is too sexy for this rather unflatteringly plain part. This is pretty much exactly as its reputation suggests…not a particularly worthwhile experience. The cast tries hard but the material utterly fails them. It is hard to fathom a neighborhood would give a rat's ass about Allen enough for him to be rescued from a deserved humbling.

Mitch Connors This is not a good movie. While the premise is an interesting one, the move is a failure on almost every level. To start, the acting is dreadful. Being a Tim Allen fan (The Santa Clause is one of my favorite Christmas movies), his acting in this movie is wooden and listless. In most scenes, it appears as though he is struggling to remember his lines. As bad as he is, Jamie Lee Curtis is somehow even worse. The entire move she appears frumpy and disinterested, until her daughter calls and suddenly it's as though she just found out she won the lottery. Three or four times she shrieks, "BLAIR!" when her daughter's name is even casually mentioned. Just awful. The supporting characters don't offer much either, even with some decent comedic names (Dan Aykroyd, Cheech Marin, among others). Next, the script is bad. As stated earlier, the premise of a family choosing not to celebrate Christmas amongst a community that holds the season in the highest regard could be funny if done correctly. Unfortunately, the reason behind it is murky. Luther (Tim Allen) and Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) are spending the first Christmas without their (now) grown daughter. Luther, who is portrayed as a real tightwad, suggests that the two of them sail on a luxury cruise instead of spending the holiday at home, thus saving money and escaping the depression of having an empty nest. Fine. How that leads to a full boycott of every aspect of Christmas is not really explained. However, Nora buys in hook, line, and sinker. Then, the daughter surprises mom and dad by flying in from Peru with new fiancée. Suddenly, Luther is chastised by Nora for having planned this in the first place. Why, you ask? It's not really clear. Yet, for some reason the mere suggestion of planning a vacation over Christmas is so awful, they go to great lengths to hide it from their daughter. "She must never find out about your idiotic plan," says Nora. Huh? Finally, the movie is disjointed. It's almost as though the Director finished filming and noticed he only had a 70 minute movie. How do you fill the extra time? Add a strange Santa Claus character, and a robber that serves no purpose to the story. Also, add plenty of physical comedy gags that are overly done and fail to hit their mark. In fact there are two funny parts in the entire movie: Tim Allen eating/drinking after getting BOTOX injections, and an inadvertent scene of a fireman getting hit in the face with a ladder - which the director (thankfully) left in, increasing the comedic value by 100%. Avoid this movie.