Christmas with the Kranks

Most moviegoers will sit stone-faced through 80 percent of this disaster | Andrew Coffin

Christmas with the Kranks is a black hole where a movie is supposed to be. That statement may sound Scrooge-worthy, especially considering that this adaptation of the short John Grisham novel Skipping Christmas has aspirations for meaning and poignancy. Yet it's not a stretch to guess that most moviegoers will sit stone-faced through 80 percent of this disaster.

The film (rated PG for brief language and suggestive content) follows the efforts of Luther (Tim Allen) and Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) Krank to "skip" Christmas one year. Their only child, daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo), is off to Peru to serve in the Peace Corps. Depressed that she won't be around for the holidays, Luther hits on a brilliant idea: Put the roughly $6,000 the Kranks usually spend on Christmas every year toward a 10-day Caribbean cruise and avoid the holiday like the plague. The plan would save them money (the cruise only runs $3,000) and mitigate the pressures of the season. Or so Luther thinks.