I'm a believer

Christmas comes early this year if you're a fan of Vince Vaughn and/or Paul Giamatti, both of whom turn in excellent performances in the highly original and creative new film, Fred Claus.

Vaughn, who plays the title character, is an actor I usually don't care for. He comes across as smarmy and one-dimensional in most of his films, but here he's totally believable as the older brother who grows up in Nicholas' shadow, constantly berated by his mother (Kathy Bates), who commits the unforgivable parental sin of repeatedly uttering those angst-ridden words of doom: "Fred, why can't you be more like your brother?"

And what if YOUR brother were St. Nick, aka the Big Man, aka Santa Claus? What if he resided at the North Pole, where he had created a vastly elaborate and dazzling Christmas Village, replete with scores of helper elves, who turn out gazillions of toys each year, to give out on that one magical night to children all around the world? Tough act to follow, even if you WERE the first born.

The movie deals with the ramifications of said brotherhood in very creative ways, cleverly combining the real life logistical elements of Being Santa with the fantastical aspects of the job. There are scenes that are played strictly for laughs, but there are also sequences that are very touching, particularly toward the end, where the film becomes genuinely inspirational.

None of it would really work, though, if the person playing Santa himself was not convincing. But we have Paul Giamatti here, don't forget, an actor who once again brilliantly proves that he is capable of portraying anything, in any fashion called for, with complete credibility. His Santa is the best movie Santa I've ever seen - warm, soulful and thoroughly human, with an eating disorder no less. I may not believe in Santa Claus, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I wholeheartedly believe in Paul Giamatti.