Four Christmases (2008)

I rather liked this movie to be honest,, light comic fare from Vince Vaughn,, nice touches from Reese Witherspoon, Jon Voight, and Sissy Spacek. this story is about a couple who every year avoid Christmas time and decide to take fancy exotic vacations to get away from family and all that goes with it. well this year they plan their annual trip , except for one major problem.. snowstorm,, airports are closed,, and film crews are at the airports,, so their faces are plastered all over TV so their families know that if they try and get out of Christmas visits they would be lying,, so the couple have no choice but to visit his parents,, and her parents,, four different Christmas's , this movie is full of laughs,, tender hearted moments,, and some definite awkward moments,, and a few crude ones as well.. all in all though I definitely liked this movie, as the couple get's to learn about each other and their families.

Fmovies: My friend and I saw this movie tonight and did get a few laughs. We really liked the cast and thought overall the movie was "cute".

We both noticed how Reese Witherspoon's hair kept "changing".. In the same clip the camera would be on her and her bangs would be straight and side-swept. Camera goes to Vince Vaughn. Camera goes back to Witherspoon and her bangs are fuller and covering her forehead. The color would change from scene to scene. It was bizarre. We laughed more at the hair issue than the movie itself. We wondered how many others in the audience noticed. It was really obvious.

Clearly we are easily entertained... ;-)

Greetings again from the darkness. Vince Vaughn is starting to remind me of what Woody Allen went through ... "I liked his funny movies". Just wasn't a fan of "Wedding Crashers" or "The Break-up", but I certainly recognize his comedic talents. Here, his quirks play a little better, though I never really bought off on he and Reece Witherspoon as a couple.

Low expectations, a strong cast, a few clever lines, easily relatable family strain, and a true sight "gag" make this one enjoyable enough. The trailer gives away the set-up of the film as Reece and Vince are forced to visit all four pieces of their disjointed families on Christmas. For some reason, director Seth Gordon ("King of Kong") casts Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek as VV's parents and Jon Voight and Mary Steenburgen as Reece's. The curiosity stems from the age difference between these actors ... a 15-16 year span. Just struck me as odd. Though not quite as odd as Jon Voight offering parental advice. Now THAT is comedy! Despite the hi-jinx, the messages abound: we all have the weirdest family, it is never easy to really connect with another person, and it's always a good time for cheese whiz. This is really VV's film as Reece has little to offer save for the bounce bounce scene. Mr. Vaughn is truly at his best in the moments of rapid fire dialogue as he helplessly tries to avoid another ridiculous situation.

One warning to parents: the film is rated PG-13 and there is a segment regarding the Santa secret, so be forewarned. The unwritten rule is broken. The quick lines and uncomfortable family moments make this one worth a few giggles. Not a Christmas classic, but a decent comedy.

I must mention the tribute to the classic "A Christmas Story" as the kids peer into the toy store window early on. That scene is followed by the airport scene, where the ticket agent is played by none other than Peter Billingsley, a grown up Ralphie from that movie (and producer of this film).

Four Christmases fmovies. It's been a while since Hollywood gave us a genuinely good Christmas movie worth seeing. If you notice, the Christmas TV line-up is the same each year and the most modern film usually on the list is THE SANTA CLAUSE (1993). This just goes to show that, sadly, Hollywood isn't creating Christmas classics as it once did. Perhaps one of these years we will get a Christmas film reminiscent of the ones we love to watch on TV every year, but this ain't that year - or at least FOUR CHRISTMASES isn't that film.

The problem doesn't lie within the film's premise, but in the actual events that play out in the film. Kate and Brad live life with and for each other and that's it. They don't have much contact with their families - where each parent is divorced and some remarried - and each Christmas opt for a tropical vacation, telling their families they are doing charity work instead. All in all, they are happy with each other, but have buried their family issues. However, this year they get caught in their lie and are forced to visit each parent individually, celebrating a total of four Christmases. In the hands of an able and creative script writer this film could have been quite enjoyable as both Kate and Brad learn to appreciate their families and not exclude certain things - mainly marriage and children - in their lives just because their parents are bad examples of them. Instead, each visit with a parent seems to be a drawn out slapstick or sex joke and nothing else and is just not in any way funny or clever.

The film suffers from a lack of intelligence and it is shocking that it attracted the star power it did. The star's talents are hardly used and instead the film opts for over-sexed relatives, ultra violent brothers and insanely disobedient children - who get no reprimanding for their actions. As a genre of film that almost lends itself to families this one missed the mark and is not recommended for the kids. As an adult-geared Christmas film it just isn't funny. Adult humor can be funny and appropriate if there is other substance backing up the film - see 'KNOCKED UP' or 'FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL.' All we are offered in FOUR CHRISTMASES is one boring and uninspired vignette after the next with paper-thin character development and uninteresting characters.

With rarely an enjoyable moment and an atmosphere that provides almost no Christmas spirit, FOUR CHRISTMASES shouldn't be on anyone's list of holiday films. It is the awkward gift given by a relative. You know the type. It comes in a pretty package, but upon opening you find that it is a pair of underwear or a sweater that is designed to sit at the back of closets. This film surely will.

This rudely rambunctious, intermittently funny 2008 holiday comedy is a supreme case of Hollywood overkill along the lines of Jay Roach's "Meet the Fockers". Running a scant 89 minutes, it stars no less than five Oscar-winning actors in the standard cookie-cutter story of a commitment-phobic couple who are forced to visit each of their four divorced parents on Christmas day. Co-written by first-timers Matt Allen and Caleb Wilson, along with Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (who co-wrote "The Hangover"), the premise shows promise with Kate and Brad, a pair of self-satisfied, upwardly mobile San Franciscans meeting for what looks like the first time in a bar. Their sharp-tongued banter turns out to be a role-playing fantasy since they are three years into their comfortable relationship. A major fog blanket rolls over the city and ruins their plans for a holiday vacation in Fiji. What's worse is that they are caught by a local news camera at the airport. Because they deceived their families into thinking they were traveling overseas to help starving third-world children, they embark on a daylong journey to each of their parent's houses, all conveniently located in the Bay Area.

However, the movie starts to decline precipitously with each visit. The first home the couple drops by belongs to Brad's redneck father, where his other sons, cage-fighting brothers Denver and Dallas tackle Brad with painful wrestling moves. It ends with an uncomfortable gift exchange where Brad's expensive gifts humiliate his blue-collar family. The couple then visits Kate's overly affectionate mother and a den of cougars, an episode in which it is revealed Kate had a childhood weight problem and a possible lesbian past. Brad's therapist mother is next on the itinerary, but he's still angry that she married his best friend, who is half her age, and a game of Taboo reveals the communication gulf that really exists between Kate and Brad. The last stop is at the home of Kate's father, and this is where the tone gets serious-minded as the couple learns a lesson in the value of being with family in spite of whatever personal differences may exist to divide them the rest of the year.

Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon - he with his semi-improvised riffing, she with her exacting intelligence - would seem to be absurdly mismatched, but they spar convincingly, even if they do look more like best friends than lovers. Vaughn gets to shine in a Christmas pageant scene where he basks in the limelight of his ham-fisted stage debut. Robert Duvall, Mary Steenburgen, Sissy Spacek, and Jon Voight play the parents with little screen time, and only Duvall leaves much of an impression as an embittered shell of a man. Jon Favreau, Tim McGraw, Carol Kane, and Kristin Chenoweth gamely play various relatives in equally smallish roles. The whole venture is directed by Seth Gordon, whose only previous feature-length credit is the critically praised video-game documentary, "The King of Kong", and his storytelling inexperience shows in the sometimes ADD-level pacing of the story. The 2009 DVD, being released for the holidays, doesn't offer much in terms of extras other than two different screen formats.

To be fair, I should explain right away I had no intention of seeing this movie at all not to mention Vince Vaughn hasn't done anything very good like Swingers and Made in some time (to me, Wedding Crashers and The Break Up were just O.K.). In fact, the bitter taste from last year's disappointing Fred Claus was still present when my girlfriend said she wanted to see this movie tonight. Of course, I cringed at the idea while mildly protesting but eventually gave in with the prospect of secretly indulging in an unspoken "I told you so". Only kidding, that thought never crossed my mind...

Anyways, I didn't even really know what this was about before seeing it but it didn't take long for the plot to be outlined after a pretty funny scene at the airport. Basically, after 3 years of avoiding spending time with their families on Christmas (remember, you can't spell families without "lies"), Kate and Brad find themselves in an unfortunate situation this year that forces them to spend Christmas with their divorced parents and very dysfunctional siblings. This concept could go either way for me because I really liked Christmas Vacation but disliked The Family Stone. Fortunately, just as it started out great this continued to be more like Christmas Vacation all the way through with several laugh out loud funny dialog and various slapstick that had the whole theater roaring with laughter. One of my favorite parts was a Nativity play where Vince Vaughn effectively delivers some hilarious over the top scenery chewing that had everybody in stitches... well, except Kate.

As funny as I thought this was, it wouldn't be a real Christmas movie without delivering some sort of constructive message among all the chaos. Since I can empathize with Vaughn in his situation with Kate, the film's resolution probably had more personal impact for me. I can also understand the criticism that most of the talented cast was wasted in comparison because the family situations were not addressed equally. What I liked the most about the film's brief serious turn is it wasn't syrupy while providing some genuine touching moments thanks to the believable acting skills of Reese Witherspoon, Vince Vaughn and of course the two screen legends, Bobby DuVall and Jon Voight. Best Christmas movie I've seen since Bad Santa and yes, I will listen to my girlfriend's suggestions without being such a Scrooge from now on:)