Christmas With The Kranks is a 2004 Christmas movie that follows Luther Krank and Nora Krank, residing in Riverside, Illinois. The couple are dealing with the grief of their daughter leaving their home for a Peace Corps assignment in Peru on the Sunday following Thanksgiving. As they are struggling to deal with the holiday spirit, Luther calculates the total amount they spent during the holiday season the previous year.
The total amount of $6,132 is their perfect excuse to ditch the idea of the holiday season. They are dull and not looking forward to celebrating Christmas as it is without their daughter.
Now, with the perfect excuse in their lives, Luther decides to invest his money to treat them to a ten-day Caribbean cruise instead. Nora, who isn’t thrilled but not that reluctant either, eventually agrees to his suggestion.
But nobody messes with the Christmas spirit. Not even Krank’s get to do so and leave undetected. When this news spread, they were labeled as pariahs for their absurd decision to boycott holidays. Amongst their condemners are their neighbors, Vic Frohmeyer and Walt Scheel, who are the most vocal. They fiercely object to the Kranks.
Vic, who is a self-proclaimed leader of the street, forces the Kranks to decorate their home using the help of a campaign. Walt, whose wife is suffering from cancer and perhaps dampening his holiday spirits, objects to Krank’s in a way that his feelings seem too personal.
Spike leads a group of children, pushing Kranks to put up Frosty the Snowman decorations. And lastly, even Christmas carollers try their best to revive the Krank’s holiday spirits.
After lots of mishaps and funny incidents, Luther’s holiday spirit has been renewed, and Christmas is celebrated by everybody.
![Christmas With The Kranks Filming Locations [Credits: Rotten Tomatoes/YouTube]](https://otakukart.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Christmas-With-The-Kranks.jpg "Filming Locations")
Cast
The cast of Christmas With The Kranks includes Tim Allen as Luther Krank, Jamie Lee Curtis as Nora Krank, Julie Gonzalo as Blair Krank, Dan Aykroyd as Vic Frohmeyer, Dava Hulsey as Amanda Frohmeyer, M. Emmet Walsh as Walt Scheel, Elizabeth Franz as Bev Scheel, Erik Per Sullivan as Spike Frohmeyer, Cheech Marin as Officer Salino, Jake Busey as Officer Treen, and Austin Pendleton as Marty.
The other cast members are Tom Poston, Kim Rhodes, Vernee Watson-Johnson, Arden Myrin, Rene Lavan, Patrick Breen, Caroline Rhea, Felicity Huffman, Kevin Chamberlin, John Short, David Hornsby, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Rachel L. Smith, Dashle Reed, and David Lander.
Filming Locations
Christmas With The Kranks is set and shot in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The urban scenes that were shown in the movie were shot at Universal Studios Hollywood, California, USA. The scene involving Chips’ Market was shot in the New York Street area. It was the scene in which Luther was trying to buy white chocolate and pistachios for his wife.
The exact location for some of these scenes is New York Street, Backlot, Universal Studios – 100 Universal City Place, Universal City, California, USA. The Pumpkin Seed Paperie & Press, the stationary store that appeared in the film where Nora failed to place her annual Christmas card order, was also shot here. It’s believed that the façades used in the film were destroyed by a fire in 2008 and couldn’t be saved.
Some of the film’s scenes were also shot at Pacific Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and Culver Studios [9336, W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California].
The main backlot set that appeared in the Christmas With The Kranks was the Hemlock Street neighborhood at the now-defunct Downey Studios. The exact location is Downey Studios [12214, Lakewood Boulevard, Downey, California], which was shuttered in 2012.
Nora is seen eating lunch with her friends Merry and Candi at the beginning of the film, which is said to have been shot at The Studio Grill by Wolfgang Puck.
The scene where Officers Salino and Treen drive Blair and her new fiancé home from the airport is shot at Warner Bros. Studio [located at 3400 West Riverside Drive, Burbank]. The same location has also appeared in several other films and TV shows.
More About Christmas With The Kranks
Christmas With The Kranks is a family comedy film directed by Joe Roth. It’s based on John Grisham’s book Skipping Christmas, who also wrote the film with Chris Columbus.
The film is one hour thirty-nine minutes long and is fun to watch. It was released on 24th November 2004 in the USA, with an estimated budget of $60 million, and its gross worldwide earnings were reported to be $96.6 million.
