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| Christmas With The Kranks - 2004 |
2004's "Christmas With The Kranks" is our next film. After their only child leaves them with an empty nest, Nora and Luther Krank decide to "skip" Christmas. However, when their daughter announces her return on Christmas Eve, the Kranks have to pull off the impossible to give their daughter and her new fiancé a memorable Christmas.
The film's cast includes Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, M. Emmet Walsh, Erik Per Sullivan, Cheech Marin, Jake Busey, Austin Pendleton, Tom Poston, Julie Gonzalo, Caroline Rhea, Felicity Huffman, and Elizabeth Franz.
Just after Thanksgiving, Luther and Nora Krank's daughter Blair is headed off to join the Peace Corps in Peru. After bidding her a tearful farewell, the Kranks head home.
While looking over their past Christmas expenses, Luther finds out that he and Nora spend an astonishing average of about $6,000 a year on Christmas. Now that Blair won't be there for Christmas, he sees no reason to spend on such an extravagant Christmas and has plans to put the money to a "better" use.
He books a 10-day Caribbean cruise. At first, Nora is reluctant about the idea of skipping Christmas, but Luther convinces her that it's the right move. She starts to become more and more enthusiastic about the idea.
The neighbors quickly take issue with the Kranks' apparent lack of holiday spirit. Their house remains undecorated, and they refuse to do any of their traditional Christmas giving to local charities.
The neighborhood kids even launch a "Free Frosty" campaign. Every house in the neighborhood has a Frosty that goes on the roof. This year, the Kranks keep their's in the basement.
On Christmas Eve, Blair surprises her parents by calling them from an airport. She announces that she'll be home in twelve hours, and she expects a Christmas with all the trimmings, as she's bringing home her new fiancé, who has never had a traditional Christmas. Of course, Luther and Nora freak out.
When Luther goes to buy a Christmas tree, he finds that all the best trees have already been sold. He basically ends up stuck with a stick with no pine needles on it. By special arrangement with a neighbor who is going out of town, Luther borrows a Christmas tree to use in his house.
Things go awry when Nora tries to buy a hickory honey ham (Blair's favorite). It gets run over by a huge truck. She ends up having to buy smoked trout, which Luther is not thrilled about.
While she's out shopping, Nora runs into someone who seems to know everything about her, including where she lives, and all about Blair. Thinking she's just forgot who he is, Nora asks him to come over later that night for the traditional Krank Christmas Eve party. He's thrilled about the invitation, though by the end of the conversation Nora still hasn't a clue about who he is.
Luther struggles to decorate the outside of the house single-handedly. While attempting to place Frosty on the roof, Luther falls off of it.
When the ambulance comes to make sure Luther is okay, the neighbors also gather around to see the commotion. When the Kranks tell them that Blair is on her way home, the neighbors decided to join together to help Nora and Luther put on a Christmas party to remember. Everyone brings something to help with the set-up.
As the evening progresses, the man whom Nora ran into at the store shows up. He introduces himself to Luther as Marty, and he also brings them a hickory honey ham. It later becomes clear to Nora and Luther that Marty seems to know everyone, but nobody seems to know him.
Eventually, Blair and her fiancé Enrique arrive, and the party goes off without a hitch. Enrique feels so welcome that he even sings a song in Spanish with Marty.
Luther really starts to get into the Christmas spirit. He slips away from the party to pay a visit to some neighbors who are having some personal struggles. He gives them the cruise that he and Nora were going to take. He even volunteers to watch their cat, who has been his arch-nemesis throughout the film.
Luther gets the surprise of his life when he finds out that Marty is actually Santa Claus, which explains how he knew everyone.
Nora joins Luther outside and they embrace. They muse how skipping Christmas was not such a good idea after all. With his reindeer and sleigh, Marty sweeps over the neighborhood and shouts, "Merry Christmas!"
Cast rundown:
Tim Allen.................................Luther Krank
Jamie Lee Curtis.......................Nora Krank
Dan Aykroyd............................Vic Frohmeyer
M. Emmet Walsh.......................Walt Scheel
Erik Per Sullivan.......................Spike Frohmeyer
Cheech Marin...........................Officer Salino
Jake Busey...............................Officer Treen
Austin Pendleton.......................Marty
Tom Poston..............................Father Zabriskie
Julie Gonzalo............................Blair Krank
Caroline Rhea...........................Candi
Felicity Huffman........................Merry
Elizabeth Franz.........................Bev Scheel
And that's it for Christmas With The Kranks. This film was based on John Grisham's book "Skipping Christmas". During the filming, reports claimed that the cast and crew ingested over ten pounds of fake snow. This was the first Christmas movie in which Tim Allen starred that was not associated with his "Santa Clause" trilogy.
