It casts Vaughn and James as friends and business partners who are trying to sell James’ electric engine design to Chrysler. Things take a bad turn in their personal lives when Vaughn discovers James’ wife (Ryder) cheating on him and struggles with how to tell James.

Like the recent Jennifer Aniston/Jason Bateman comedy The Switch, the film pleasantly surprised me by being something more than its sitcommy setup would suggest. Granted, it doesn’t seem so promising at first, opening with Vaughn and the gang debating the nature of relationships and yada yada yada. You also wonder how someone like James could snag someone like Ryder, and you figure Vaughn will resort to predictably wacky ways to keep his secret from James.

But then the film shifts, somewhat subtly, into more dramatic territory as it deals with issues of fidelity and friendship and such, and from there on more or less straddles the line between funny and serious. And for the most part it works, mainly because Vaughn handles the serious stuff surprisingly well. But there’s also some really nice supporting work from Connelly as the woman Vaughn wants to marry. James acquits himself well enough in a role that doesn’t require him to perform pratfalls, and Ryder excels at being the shrewish villain of the piece.

The humor verges on edgy, at least for a Howard project, but never gets too dark, as evidenced by Vaughn’s toast at his in-laws’ anniversary celebration, as well as his intervention by friends and family. On the lighter side the film has the funny and clever idea of visualizing Vaughn’s elaborate explanations to Connelly as to how certain things happened, like how he got those sores on his face.

As with some of Howard’s other efforts, though, the film has a somewhat ungainly gait, probably because Howard lets a few too many scenes carry on longer than they should. In particular I mean the part where Ryder’s illicit loverboy (Channing Tatum) confronts a snooping Vaughn and bashes his car with a bat. And so the movie runs for just under two hours, which is just a little too long for a comedy in my book. – [DVD]

Concocted by stars Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, it sends four Chicago couples with marriage woes to a tropical paradise resort that, much to the chagrin of three of the couples, turns out to be a sort of rehab for relationships run by a Zen-like Frenchman (Jean Reno).

The film’s funniest early on. Vaughn juggles simultaneous phone calls, deals with a son peeing where he shouldn’t, and Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell’s uptight couple put on a Power Point presentation for their friends. The later scenes of the couples in actual therapy also made me chuckle, mainly because John Michael Higgins and Ken Jeong play two of the therapists.

But far too many of the situations are uninspired, juvenile or simply tedious, be it Vaughn and Bateman being threatened by sharks, Favreau’s visible arousal during a massage or just about any time the characters stop to seriously discuss their feelings. As a first-time director, Vaughn pal Peter Billingsley (Ralphie in A Christmas Story), though competent, fails to liven any of it up.

He also needs a lesson in editing, as numerous scenes tend to drag on. One of them–a Guitar Nation showdown with the resort’s British host–could have been cut entirely. And while I was amused by both the Brit (Peter Serafinowicz) and the cartoonishly hunky yoga instructor (Carlos Ponce) the first time I saw them, their novelty wore off after their second and third appearances.

Vaughn does his usual, semi-amusing riffing, Favreau is grossly unpleasant, Bateman is just plain whiny and Faizon Love, as the buddy with the college-age girlfriend, adds very little for being such a (very) big guy. I liked the women, including Kristin Davis and Malin Akerman, a lot more, and not just because they’re easy on the eyes, though I wouldn’t mind being a couple with any one of them. – [DVD]

Comedy

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 2/9/10

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