None of this does well to aid in Saint Nick’s diminishing health. He’s under a lot of stress, living with acid reflux, sleep apnea, and back problems. Never mind that he travels unprotected from wintertime elements by sleigh, going up and down soot-filled chimneys. It’s no small wonder that the butterball hasn’t succumbed to congestive heart failure. As thoughtfully played Giamatti, Santa is a subdued spirit — a weary but wise man who’s seen the ups and downs that’ve come with giving to, and for, the ages.
Brother Fred’s put to work in the “Naughty-Nice Department,” his authoritarian responsibility being the sole judge and jury of whether each child in the world has behaved well enough to be deserving of the gifts they’ve asked for. A job easier said than done, even for someone with a cynical worldview. When the narcissistic Fred looks in on the mischievous children of the world through Santa’s Snow Globe — an Orwellian eye-in-the-sky — he quite understandably begins giving way to a crisis of conscience (“Every kid deserves a present on Christmas”). Vaughn’s is a subtle transformation from hard hard-ass to softer hard-ass. He’s not sickishly born-again, trying to yank at our heart strings. Fred’s a middle-aged man with a chance to do the right thing for the world and, just as importantly, himself.
In the movie’s most comedically inspired scene, Fred visits a group therapy session for “Siblings Anonymous” in which Frank Stallone (Sylvester’s brother), presidential brother Roger Clinton (“My name is Roger Clinton and I’m a recovering sibling”), and actor Stephen Baldwin give personal coping testimonials. With helpful insight from his fellow overlooked brothers and sisters, and a knowing wink to wiser viewers, Vaughn walks the line between ridiculous and sublime. He figures out how to lift the past’s burdensome weight off his — and possibly our — shoulders.
As is the perennially annual case with Ebenezer Scrooge and the Grinch, no amount of family baggage - or insatiable corporate greed - can undermine that which comes with Christmas bliss. The movie is a welcome derivative diversion to wrapping paper and bows strewn about and stomachs stuffed with festive merriment.
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