Synopsis
When Jesper distinguishes himself as the Postal Academy's worst student, he is sent to Smeerensburg, a small village located on an icy island above the Arctic Circle, where grumpy inhabitants barely exchange words, let alone letters. Jesper is about to give up and abandon his duty as a postman when he meets local teacher Alva and Klaus, a mysterious carpenter who lives alone in a cabin full of handmade toys.
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Cast
- Jason SchwartzmanJesper (voice)
- J.K. SimmonsKlaus (voice)
- Rashida JonesAlva (voice)
- Joan CusackMrs. Krum (voice)
- Norm MacdonaldMogens (voice)
- Will SassoMr. Ellingboe (voice)
- Sergio PablosPumpkin / Olaf (voice)
- Mila BrenerEllingboe Girl 3 (voice)
- Neda Margrethe LabbaMargu (voice)
- Sydney BrowerEllingboe Girl (voice)
Recommendations
- 75
Slant Magazine
Sergio Pablos’s film is essentially a metaphor for its own unique and refreshing mode of expression. - 75
RogerEbert.com
The goofy and charming Klaus probably plays better if you don't know going in that it's a Santa Claus origin story. - 70
TheWrap
It’s far more successful with holiday magic than it is with character-based comedy, but that’s not enough of a flaw to keep young audiences (and their parents) from potentially turning this feature into a cherished annual tradition. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Sergio Pablos' Klaus invents its own unexpected and very enjoyable origin story for the big guy who gives out toys every Christmas eve. Shaking off most Yuletide cliches in favor of a from-scratch story about how even dubiously-motivated generosity can lead to joy, it contains echoes of other seasonal favorites (especially, in a topsy-turvy way, Dr. Seuss' Grinch) while standing completely on its own. - 70
The New York Times
It all moves along so amiably, and offers such consistently delightful visuals, that the conventional plot points, up to and including an inevitable “but I can explain” bit, are entirely digestible. - 63
Movie Nation
It’s not remotely as polished as the earlier contenders in the field, but “Klaus” is good enough to have earned a theatrical release, on a par with MGM’s “The Addams Family,” in any event. - 60
The Guardian
Solid first and third acts can’t disguise a so-so middle section stuffed with conventional story beats. - 60
Los Angeles Times
As admirable as it is that “Klaus” in the overall isn’t a sugar-rush cartoon fix of wisecracks and mayhem, it’s also too lazily reliant on insults and insolence as its go-to mode for comedy. But what does work is the snowy, hilly luster of this bygone-era fairy tale environment, and the seasonal soul the filmmakers have tucked inside their invented history about children’s yearly haul.
