‘Fred Claus’: The truly awful movie that almost derailed Vince Vaughn’s career: “It was looking sour”
For anyone who knows Vince Vaughn solely as a comedic actor, they might be surprised to find he’s been a part of some decidedly unfunny films.
He appeared in Steven Spielberg’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which wasn’t as good as the original, but very little is, and he also played a serial killer in the 2020 horror-comedy Freaky, which was a delightfully devilish departure from his usual tomfoolery, but regardless of genre or style, Vaughn has been unable to avoid bombing throughout his career.
His turn as Norman Bates in Gus Van Sant’s remake of Psycho didn’t exactly give Anthony Perkins a run for his money, but it did establish him as a serious star who could do more than pratfalls and dick jokes. It looked like he’d jumped on the True Detective bandwagon at just the right time, but his series turned out to be a major disappointment. He’s been in more than his fair share of disappointing comedies too, from Be Cool to Couples Retreat. At least those films didn’t almost ruin his entire life, unlike a certain festive flop.
During an interview with GQ about his storied career, the Dodgeball star reflected on a crucial period of his career when he had just parted ways with his long-term agency, United Talent, before his starring role in Fred Claus, but this behind-the-scenes turmoil seeped into the finished product.
“It was looking sour,” he recalled. “I left to go with a different agency, as there was a ton of bad blood between my manager and my agent, and they hadn’t spoken to each other for something like six months. I’d had enough. I liked the new guys; they had some decent ideas, but I didn’t have the same sort of rapport as I’d had with my previous team. This tweak can affect your output, especially if you’re not communicating brilliantly.”
Released in 2007, Fred Claus is, if you couldn’t already tell, a Christmas movie. Vaughn plays the title character, the underachieving brother of jolly ol’ Saint Nick, and hilarity ensues when Fred goes to visit his red-suited sibling at the North Pole, at least, that was the plan, because critics and audience members didn’t share this view.
It’s safe to say that Fred Claus has not joined the great pantheon of holiday classics. It was ripped apart like wrapping paper. The press found it to be mostly unbearable, and it didn’t have the decency to make any money.
Luckily for Vaughn, he’d built up some goodwill earlier that same year with his appearance in Into the Wild. It did kickstart a run of completely horrible films for the funnyman, however. He wouldn’t appear in another highly-rated movie of any kind until 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge, which wasn’t exactly his vehicle.
This experience also didn’t put him off making crap Christmas films. Just one year on from Fred Claus, he appeared in the equally cursed Four Christmases. That movie was derailed by the star’s on-set feud with Reese Witherspoon, although let’s be honest, it probably didn’t stand a snowflake’s hope in hell’s chance anyway.
