Four Christmases
“You can’t spell families without lies”
That had been the mantra of Brad and Kate (Vince Vaughn and Reece Witherspoon) as they came up with elaborate lies each year to stay away from their families during the holiday season, but when the airport gets fogged in, Brad and Kate get sucked into visiting both of their divorced parents on Christmas day.
Four Christmases is a funny family movie. I found myself laughing out loud on several occasions. Going into the movie, I wasn’t sure how well they were going to play against each other, but Vince Vaughn and Reece Witherspoon showed great chemistry and comedic timing on screen together. Vince Vaughn plays Vince Vaughn, as he does in all his movies, but the Vince Vaughn character works well in this movie. Overall, all the performances were very good, something that you would expect with no less than 5 Academy Award winners in the movie.
The thing that is unusual about this Christmas movie is that the whole”meaning of Christmas” thing was not really stressed in the film. The movie was more about family than Christmas, and the holiday is just used as a vehicle to get the lead couple into these four family dichotomies. And when I say family, of course what I mean is dysfunctional family. You have to wonder how Brad and Kate are not more screwed up after seeing where they come from. But it does make for some funny moments, and I guess it makes us all feel a little better about our own semi-dysfunctional families.
If you decide to go see the movie, be on the lookout for a cameo by Peter Billingsley (Ralphie in A Christmas Story) all grown up now. Â Billingsley is executive producer of the movie, and has been friends with Vince Vaughn since they both appeared in a CBS Schoolbreak Special together back in 1990.
While I doubt the movie will crack many people’s top ten lists for 2008, it is a solid comedy and well worth your time. Go see it!
