Rated PG for brief language and suggestive content.
Directed by Joe Roth (America’s Sweethearts, Revenge of the Nerds II…)
Starring Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, M. Emmet Walsh
I can’t believe I actually laughed…but I did.
This film is so stupid, yet I found myself giggling a couple times; maybe because my kids were laughing. The gags were predictable and stooge-ish. I would tell you to skip it altogether, but somehow I actually had a pretty fun time watching it with my kids.
The story is based on John Grisham’s book “Skipping Christmas”…but don’t let that fool you. Grisham’s book is creative and fun. This film is…well…not.
The story is about Luther (Allen) and Nora (Curtis) Krank the first year their college aged daughter goes away during the holidays. They decide to skip Christmas altogether and go on a cruise. Maybe that’s why Jamie Lee Curtis signed up for the role, she figured that she could somehow work a bathing suit scene into the film. (That woman manages to take off her shirt more than William Shatner in his Star Trek years!)
Dan Aykroyd is mildly amusing as Vic Frohmeyer, the neighbor from Hell.
Overall, skipping the Kranks won’t hurtcha!
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
Sure. It actually is PG, not PG-13–kind of rare these days. I watched it with my 8, 10, and 12 year old without cringing (for content anyway).
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
