Your basic fish-out-of-water set-up, it sees the two stars playing an estranged New York couple who witness a murder and get shipped off to Wyoming by the Feds for protection where they encounter a bear, learn how to fire rifles and ride horses and, of course, resolve their differences.

Grant, with his patented stammering, and Parker, with her increasingly annoying “I’m a New Yorker” attitude, are on cruise control here, though Grant manages to bring a few lines to life. Like how he describes an ugly purple welt on his shoulder as looking like “a little map of Ireland.”

The writing and direction by Marc Lawrence (Music & Lyrics, Two Weeks Notice) is equally halfhearted, and so many of the situations that seemed funny on paper–including said encounter with a bear–merely make you chuckle instead of laugh out loud. He also fails to make much out of the minor subplot involving Grant’s and Parker’s assistants (Elisabeth Moss and Jesse Liebman).

Lawrence is a little more successful with the Red State/Blue State humor, like how the small town has only 14 Democrats and, emphasizes a teen girl in a cowboy hat, “we know who they are.” And Mary Steenburgen and Sam Elliott are perfectly cast as the meat-eating, gun-loving (cue the Sarah Palin jokes) Wyoming couple who house, and tolerate, the bickering East Coast witnesses.

As a whole the film, though more tolerable than most rom-coms, is the cinematic equivalent of a great big sigh, something I imagine Grant and Parker both did when they agreed to appear in it for a paycheck. Oh, well, at least we now know that 75-year-old Wilford Brimley is still alive and kicking and able to play cranky old curmudgeons. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Comedy/Drama/Romance

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 3/16/10

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

The Proposal

Sandra Bullock plays the much-disliked editor at a major publishing house who, to prevent her Canadian self from being deported, fabricates the lie that she and her boss-loathing assistant (Ryan Reynolds) are getting married. Then off they head to Alaska to visit his wealthy family (and allow us to soak in the state’s beautiful scenery).

It’s basically a reverse-gender riff on 1990’s Green Card crossed with The Family Stone and directed with no particular flair by Anne Fletcher (27 Dresses) that does nothing you don’t expect it to and draws out too long its dull don’t-let-her-get-away conclusion.

I imagine Bullock’s workaholic witch is supposed to remind us of Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, but as written and acted the character is nowhere near as frightening or interesting and thaws far too quickly. Bullock’s better at the funny stuff anyway, like turning a Native American dance into a rap number or trying to one-up Reynolds in relating how they supposedly fell in love.

Though he was better in Definitely, Maybe, Reynolds nicely restrains his sarcastic tendencies here and is very funny, especially in his initial reaction to the news of the forthcoming nuptials. He’s also good with the more dramatic stuff, like comforting Bullock after she falls out of a boat and dealing with the disapproval of his dad (the eternally bland Craig T. Nelson).

As Reynolds’ grandma, 87-year-old Betty White steals just about every scene she’s in, be it searching for Bullock’s boobs in a particularly ugly wedding dress and calling it an “Easter egg hunt,” or the tender, tearjerker way she tricks Reynolds and Nelson into a cease fire. Her energy makes the usually reliable Mary Steenburgen, as Reynolds’ mom, seem wooden by comparison.

The scene in which Reynolds and Bullock collide while naked doesn’t amuse so much as titillate and try to show us that Bullock is up for anything and that Reynolds works out a lot. Another scene, involving the family dog, an eagle and Bullock talking on a cell phone, is just plain hilarious. Yet I laughed the most during the end credits as various characters testify on the leads’ behalf to an Immigrations officer.

Unfortunately, the connect-the-dots script ultimately negates any positive contributions the cast makes, and I was never convinced that Bullock and Reynolds belonged together. Rather, he should have taken up again with his cute and very likable ex-girlfriend (Malin Akerman). Such an ending might have made The Proposal a little more acceptable to me. – [DVD]

Comedy/Drama/Romance

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 10/13/09

Bottle Shock

Rickman plays a philandering jerk of a chemist who wins the Nobel Prize and rubs that fact in everyone’s faces, including that of his PhD-aspiring son (Bryan Greenberg). Craziness ensues after the kid is abducted by the disgruntled offspring (Shawn Hatosy) of a late Rickman rival.

My main problem here is that Miller, who long ago helmed comedies like Class Act and Houseguest, tries too hard to make the film offbeat and edgy. He clutters it up with annoying quick zooms and pans, unpleasant violence and the kind of electronic music that announces something clever is about to happen. Not to mention the pretentious way he uses cannibalism as a metaphor for the human condition.

Yet the cast, particularly Rickman and Pullman, makes it entertaining. The way Rickman’s ego-ridden prick scoffs at the mere mention of call waiting is especially funny, as is the tactic used by Mary Steenburgen, as Rickman’s forensic scientist wife, to shoo away an annoying TV reporter. As a cop with a thing for Steenburgen, Pullman, as usual, emits a nice, easy measure of oddball energy.

And Miller does devise an admittedly nifty way for Hatosy (Outside Providence) to steal away with Rickman’s ransom. It involves a mall and Mini-Coopers and is the film’s best scene. The bite-size car figures in later on in a character’s ironic demise.

I do wish, though, that Dushku had been used as more than just extremely sexy window dressing in playing Greenberg’s mentally unstable love interest. Not that I mind seeing her wearing next to nothing. But after having seen her play tough, capable characters before (like on Buffy, the Vampire Slayer), her small, weak role here feels like a big step back.

So for better examples of this kind of black comedy, you should check out flicks like Shallow Grave (Danny Boyle; 1994), Fargo (Coen Brothers; 1996) or even the more mainstream Ruthless People (Zucker Brothers; 1986).

Comedy/Crime/Drama/Thriller

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 3/10/09