Fred Claus

Vince Vaughn is the bitter big brother of the (literally) saintly Santa Claus in this season's answer to a big holiday comedy, a mix of sentimental fantasy and smart-aleck humor carried more by personality than story. Really, there's nothing in this tale you can't predict, right down to the obligatory triumphant, happy ending. But if you like Vaughn's glib charm and flinty sweetness, you'll enjoy seeing him con the elves into doing his work and pressure his pushover brother (played by Paul Giamatti as a pussycat of a Santa Claus) for a loan. Kevin Spacey is the grinch of an efficiency expert scheming to shut down the North Pole operation and outsource the whole shebang, and John Michael Higgins, Miranda Richardson, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates and Elizabeth Banks co-star. The DVD supplements are limited to 13 deleted and alternate scenes and a commentary track by director David Dobkin.