I goofed. I thought I was signing up to review A Christmas Tale with Catherine Deneuve, but I accidentally signed up to review Four Christmases instead. I’m not a big fan of slapstick humor or “physical” humor, and hated I Love You, Man. So you can see already that I have little credibility when it comes to these types of comedies.
The story is thus: Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn play self-absorbed, in-love yuppies who always spend Christmas apart from their respective families. This year, though, their flight to Fiji is cancelled, and they are coaxed into a visit to each of their four parents’ households. Much levity and dysfunctional family humor ensue. I haven’t really liked Vince Vaughn too much since Swingers, but his character does have ample chemistry with that of Reese Witherspoon’s, and Reese is, as always, really fun to watch.
But there were parts of Four Christmases that were decidedly unfunny for me. One of many examples of this would be a baby being forcefully knocked in the head.
What did appeal to me were the supporting performances of Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, and Jon Voight (his soliloquy on family sounded like a personal message to his daughter, Angelina Jolie). And if that weren’t enough, you also have Jon Favreau, Tim McGraw, Kristen Chenoweth and Dwight Yoakam. I first really noticed Dwight’s acting chops in Slingblade, where he was villainous and amazing, and then later in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. Four Christmases is worth seeing for these actors alone.
There are two other redeeming factors, if you need ‘em. One is the, of course, happy ending. The other is that after seeing this level of family madness, our own families don’t seem so bad. I still prefer holiday movies like Home for the Holidays and Pieces of April much more than Four Christmases, but check out these seasoned actors, and kick off the holiday season with a fluff movie peppered with some deeper messages. – [DVD]
Comedy/Drama/Romance
Rated PG-13
DVD Release Date: 11/24/09