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Bookmark this pageFour Christmases (2008)
Director: Seth Gordon
Movie review
From Time Out London
Family plus Christmas equals nightmare. That seems to be the calculation guiding this festive frolic, in which Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon tell their respective folks they’re doing charity work so that they can avoid the usual get-together. Alas, their ruse is uncovered, so they end up visiting all four post-divorce enclaves in one fateful Christmas Day.Playing out a seasonal riff on the same comedy of embarrassment as ‘Meet the Parents’, Vaughn’s mean old coot of a pater Robert Duvall and wrestling-freak sibling Jon Favreau, along with Mary Steenburgen as Witherspoon’s lubricious yet church-happy mom, supply plentiful warning of the dangers of procreation. As we grind through the gears of consecutive drop-ins, however, behind the strained knockabout lurks a none-too-subtle conformist agenda, assuring the unmarried, childless couple that their only chance for genuine happiness is to get with the family programme.
‘Humbug!’, we say. Dismaying, indeed, that a movie purportedly selling itself on refreshing nay-saying scepticism should so cravenly succumb to the same old schmaltz, without the craft even to make the process seem anything other than a series of empty would-be ‘feelgood’ platitudes. Still, there are occasional felicities en route, with some ably delivered ‘trailer moment’ slapstick – watch out for that baby vomit! – and the cast do their best with the uneven material, even if Vaughn in particular makes the patter a tad too effortful. Nostalgic for some to have him and Favreau reunited here, yet seeing the ‘Swingers’ duo desperately mugging away in such mainstream mulch, their catchphrase ‘You’re so money’ takes on an awful new resonance.
Author: Trevor Johnston
Time Out London Issue 1997, November 29 – December 3, 2008
User reviews of this film
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- SS said...
- Posted on Dec 10 2008 15:12 This is the worst film I have ever seen. PLEASE do not waste your time or money watching it. You have better things to do with your life - do them instead!
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- smiles said...
- Posted on Dec 09 2008 16:02 I saw this film 2 weeks ago and thought it was really good. would definetely see it again
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- lisa said...
- Posted on Dec 09 2008 11:41 you sad people who leave negative coments!!!! this film is brill and sooo funny!!! a must see.
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- The Shrimper said...
- Posted on Dec 08 2008 14:06 Never pre-judge a film based on the professional critics. The film wasn't the greatest but it was good entertainment
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- Stevo Caswell said...
- Posted on Dec 07 2008 15:54 Was really looking forward to this after great films such as wedding crashers but was greatly dissapointed. More romance rather than pure comedy, the only good thing is vince vaughn. Seen a lot better im afraid.
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- Tony said...
- Posted on Dec 06 2008 22:04 My wife and I just got back from seeing "Four Christmases", without having read the reviews. What a mistake... I expected more from a film with Reese Witherspoon!
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- purplechap said...
- Posted on Dec 06 2008 16:40 people will watch this movie only if they are really exicited otherwise this movie is worthless and there is nothing funny at all.
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- shannon said...
- Posted on Dec 06 2008 13:46 shut up
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- billy said...
- Posted on Dec 05 2008 16:50 what a load of cr#p worst film ever
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- Laura ferty said...
- Posted on Dec 03 2008 20:31 I thought it was really good especcialy that girl who had a breast pump.
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- melissa hignett said...
- Posted on Dec 03 2008 17:14 Absolutley top .. never seen a film like it in me life it is 10000% coool !
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- caitlin said...
- Posted on Dec 02 2008 13:32 I thought that this film was really good it had poor reviews but i reely enjoyed it
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- usman khawaja said...
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Posted on Nov 30 2008 16:52
not much of a christmas courtesy of hollywood -vince vaughn is the saving grace which relieves this very contrived cming of home movie for a white middle clas couple contemplating marriage ,
all the cliches about sexual insecurities and female anxieties abound and the topping is provided by nosy meddlesome realtives with typical cynical attidudes that prevail in current american cinema .
there is a hilarious sequence in a church with a well acted sequence about religious biases and the inflated male ego which is better then the rest ,
i do think witherspoon was both miscast and wasted as she looks miserable throughout the flick which is a pity as she shines in the legally blonde series in similar comic adventures .
but it is rather luke warm and tepid compared to wedding crashers though vaughn is a good comic in the present milieu of miserable cinema .
usman khawaja - Report as inappropriate
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- Amanda said...
- Posted on Nov 30 2008 00:20 went to see this film the day it came out, read poor comments on it but thought I'd go check it out for my self. I loved it, funny in parts made me laugh out loud. Which doesn't happen that often. Light humor most enjoyable. Go see it and make up your own mind!
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- Louise said...
- Posted on Nov 29 2008 15:34 dont go and see it it is rubbish.
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Cast & crew
Director: Seth Gordon
Cast: Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Jon Favreau, Sissy Spacek, Jon Voight, Mary Steenburgen, Dwight Yoakam, Tim McGraw, Kristin Chenoweth, Colleen Camp full cast
Rated: 12A
Duration: 88 mins
UK Release: Nov 28 2008
US Release: Nov 26 2008
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