Christmas with the Kranks

After Luther and Nora Krank see their daughter depart for a Peace Corps assignment in Peru on the Sunday following Thanksgiving, empty nest syndrome sets in. Luther calculates the couple spent $6,132 during the previous year's holiday season and, not looking forward to celebrating Christmas without their daughter, he suggests they invest the money usually spent on decorations, gifts, and entertainment and treat themselves to a ten-day Caribbean cruise instead. Skeptical at first, Nora finally agrees.The Kranks are amazed to discover they are considered pariahs as a result of their decision. Luther's co-workers think he has become Ebenezer Scrooge, local stationer Aubie is distressed to lose the couple's order for their engraved greeting cards and Christmas Eve party invitations, the Boy Scout troop is upset when the Kranks refuse to purchase one of their Christmas trees, and the police are stunned to discover they won't be buying this year's calendar from them. Most vocal in their objections are neighbors Walt Scheel and Vic Frohmeyer, who organizes a campaign to force the Kranks to decorate their home so Hemlock Street won't lose the coveted award for best decorations. Children picket, neighbors constantly call, and Christmas carolers try to revive the Kranks' holiday spirit by singing on their lawn. Even the newspaper gets into the act by publishing a front page story complete with a photograph of the unlit Krank house. Still, Luther and Nora continue to stand their ground.The two are in the process of packing on Christmas Eve morning when they receive a call from Blair, who announces she's at Miami International Airport, en route home with her Peruvian fiancé as a surprise for her parents. She's anxious to introduce Enrique to her family's holiday traditions, and when she asks if they're having their usual party that night, a panicked Nora says yes, much to Luther's dismay. Comic chaos ensues as the couple finds themselves trying to decorate the house and coordinate a party with only twelve hours to spare before their daughter and future son-in-law arrive.While Nora scrambles to find food, especially Blair's favorite ham, Luther arranges to borrow the tree of a neighbor who is going away for a couple of days. He and Vic's son try to transport it across the street on Spike's Radio Flyer wagon, only to be stopped by the police, who assume they have stopped a robbery in progress. Once it is established why Luther is trying frantically to decorate his home, the neighbors come out full force to help him and Nora ready it for Blair.With the party in full swing, Luther slips out of the house and goes across the street to the Scheel home. Bev's cancer, once in remission, has returned and, knowing this may be their last holiday together, Luther insists they take the cruise in place of him and Nora, going so far as to offer to take care of their hated cat. At first they decline, but ultimately they accept his generosity and Luther, whose holiday spirit has been renewed, realizes skipping Christmas wasn't as good an idea as he originally thought.