FAQ

While daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) is off to Peru with the Peace Corps, Luther (Tim Allen) and Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) Krank decide to skip Christmas and go on a Caribbean cruise instead, much to the displeasure of their friends and neighbors.

Christmas with the Kranks is based on the 2001 novel Skipping Christmas by American author John Grisham, usually known for his legal thrillers. The novel was adapted for the movie by American filmmaker Chris Columbus.

The setting takes place in Riverside, a suburb near Chicago, Illinois. However, actual filming was done in Vancouver and California.

Most likely White Chocolate Pistachio Bark.

Blair and her Peruvian fiancé Enrique "N-Reeky" Decardenal (René Lavan) arrive home to find the house ablaze in Christmas lights and Frosty on the roof. Inside, the house is swarming with friends and neighbors, the tree is trimmed, turkey is cooked, cookies are baked, and Marty (Austin Pendleton) shows up with a Hickory Honey Ham. Only the Scheels are not there because Bev's (Elizabeth Franz) cancer has returned. Marty and Enrique sing a Peruvian Christmas song together, and Enrique and Nora give a round of toasts. After being berated by Nora for managing only to come up with "The same goes for me...double" for his toast, Luther dejectedly slips out of the house and walks over to the Scheels. Knowing that this may be their last Christmas together, he gives Walt (M. Emmet Walsh) the cruise tickets, offering even to watch Muffles while they're gone. On his way back across the street, he notices a burglar. The burglar is suddenly clobbered by an umbrella-wielding Santa who turns out to be Marty. "Told ya you needed an umbrella," he says before driving off. As Luther stands outside the house, looking through the front window at all the happy guests inside, Nora comes out to join him. She apologizes for berating him, and Luther admits, "Skipping Christmas...what a stupid idea."

Those who have both seen the movie and read the book say that the movie stayed loyal to the book, albeit the movie was more slapsticky while the book had a darker aspect to it, was more subtle and sardonic in humor, and gave more descriptive details.