I just watched the Ebert & Roeper review of Christmas with the Kranks, the movie based on John Grisham’s Skipping Christmas. I haven’t seen the movie, but Ebert and Roeper both hated it (“big big big thumbs down down down”). What I found interesting is that many of their complaints against the movie were exactly the reasons Laura and I didn’t like the book when we read it two years ago.

I’ve still got the book on my shelf, because I keep meaning to re-read it. Last time it came up, Suzanne (who didn’t like it either) suggested that maybe it was supposed to be a farce, and I kept meaning to read it again to see it was better that way. From what I’ve seen of Christmas with the Kranks, it’s definitely a comedy, but of the slapstick variety, rather than attempting any broader social commentary. Either that, or the movie did such a poor job of conveying it that neither Ebert or Roeper got it.