The absolute worst Christmas movie ever made it tries to be funny but the script is so bad. It tries to be heartwarming but just is more of an affront to god than anything. I would go as far to say its soulless and evil. That being said I'm a sado-masochist so me and my buddy watch this every holiday season. Just so we can gawk at what a disgusting train-wreck this movie is. It's foul and rancorous stench lingers with you; perhaps, even haunts you for weeks after you watch it. The plot isn't even worth summing up here if you read all this and you still want to watch go for it.

The first time I watched this, I was not impressed. But after the 3rd time in TV, I bought is and have seen it many times since. It have great actors for the roles they play and tells a funny story that ends well. Recommend.

I just watched this movie and thought it was a passable Christmas movie. Yes I agree with the other poster that it is a movie meant to generate Christmas spending by shaming the people who turn away from it like the Kranks, but it was reasonably funny though. I don't care about its message, because in the end they showed he had the Christmas spirit after all. I like Dan Akroyd's militant neighbor role, and Tim Allen is no stranger to Christmas movies. It was generally meh though, but got a few laughs from me. One of my favorite bits was right at the start when that Santa was trying to sell him the umbrella, and later when the priest (Looney "It's Lun-nay, it's French" from Family Matters) encounters them at the tanning salon was pretty funny too. Overall a family friendly (G rated) comedy with a heartwarming ending. 6/10

I can't understand all the negativity from so many people about this film. This is basically a slapstick comedy, and aspires to be little more than that, with perhaps a bit of a moral at the end regarding selfishness. But it wasn't meant to be "The Importance of Being Earnest" or "You Can't Take It With You" or even "Some Like It Hot". The fact that it doesn't rise to Grisham's book's level is totally unimportant to almost anyone unless he or she has read the book. Even then, though, a film must be accepted or rejected, hated or enjoyed, based on its own inherent quality. A lot of book critics thought "Gone With the Wind" an overrated book, and then decried the classic film version as not being worthy of the book. Come on, now! This film was a lot of fun from beginning to end, with some exceedingly funny scenes and performances that made me laugh out loud (mostly from Curtis), and with no dead spots. It also contains a certain amount of sentimentality towards the end, but hell, it's a Christmas movie - should it have ended like "Night of the Living Dead"? The lead performances of Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis really make the film, and they are ideally cast as polar opposites in the acting department. Allen is forever low-key and rather accepting of his fate, while Curtis is almost the Bette Davis of slapstick, and over the top in almost every second scene, but to these eyes and ears hilariously and appropriately so. The best actors, comedians, opera singers, etc. can make a special art of going over the top (think of John Barrymore, Tod Slaughter, Boris and Bela, Gregory Peck as Ahab, Eleanor Parker, Faye Dunaway, Mario Del Monaco and, of course, Ms. Davis). Curtis has been one of that elect company in everything from her early years in slasher films (what actress ever expressed more believable fear and horror in such unworthy fare?) to the hilarious housewife of an Arnold Schwarzenegger secret agent (what secret agent's wife was ever funnier?). But she is FUNNY, and Tim Allen is FUNNY, and that is exactly what they're supposed to be. This isn't Shakespeare and the director isn't David Lean. It is a slapstick comedy and must be accepted as such, and judged on whether or not it does the job. For me, it does the job superbly, and I would just mention that even the actors who are called upon to play it straight here, or even slightly dramatic, like M. Emmett Walsh and Elizabeth Franz, are totally credible (but when has Mr. Walsh ever not been frighteningly real?). So, if you can enjoy the film for what it is, and take note that the kids are probably greatly enjoying every minute of it, and that everyone around you is laughing as well, that's surely all the director and the actors ever strove for. As Clint Eastwood might have said, "Go ahead. Watch the film. Make your day!"