Four Christmases (2008)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Seth Gordon

Writers (WGA):

Matt Allen (screenplay) &
Caleb Wilson (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 November 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

His father, her mother, his mother and her father all in one day.

Plot:

A couple struggles to visit all four of their divorced parents on Christmas Day.

Plot Keywords:

Christmas | Airport | Large Family | Dysfunctional Family | Christmas Party

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Vince Vaughn	...	Brad
Reese Witherspoon	...	Kate
Robert Duvall	...	Howard
Sissy Spacek	...	Paula
Jon Voight	...	Creighton
Jon Favreau	...	Denver
Mary Steenburgen	...	Marilyn
Dwight Yoakam	...	Pastor Phil
Tim McGraw	...	Dallas
Kristin Chenoweth	...	Courtney
Katy Mixon	...	Susan
Colleen Camp	...	Aunt Donna
Jeanette Miller	...	Gram-Gram
Jack Donner	...	Grandpa
Steve Wiebe	...	Jim

Also Known As:

Four Holidays (Australia) (New Zealand: English title)
Mein Schatz, unsere Familie und ich (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual humor and language.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44549) | Ireland:12A | UK:12A | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Portugal:M/12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Norway:7 | New Zealand:M | Peru:14 | Sweden:Btl | France:U | Mexico:B | Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Birnbaum/Barber

Trivia:

According to director Seth Gordon, the film's subject is the difficulty all people have of reconciling who they are and the person they're supposed to be, which is why it's so hard to spend Christmas with one's family and why it can engender uneasiness. Naturally, he also felt Christmas was an amazing playground for comedy.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kate is in the bathroom at her mother's house, she sees a pregnancy test in her sister's bag. It disappears and reappears a few times.

Quotes:

Connor: Do you know who I am?
Brad: What?
Connor: Google me bitch! I might be famous one day.

Movie Connections:

References Sleeping with the Enemy (1991)

Pleasantly Surprised

To be fair, I should explain right away I had no intention of seeing this movie at all not to mention Vince Vaughn hasn't done anything very good like Swingers and Made in some time (to me, Wedding Crashers and The Break Up were just O.K.). In fact, the bitter taste from last year's disappointing Fred Claus was still present when my girlfriend said she wanted to see this movie tonight. Of course, I cringed at the idea while mildly protesting but eventually gave in with the prospect of secretly indulging in an unspoken "I told you so". Only kidding, that thought never crossed my mind...

Anyways, I didn't even really know what this was about before seeing it but it didn't take long for the plot to be outlined after a pretty funny scene at the airport. Basically, after 3 years of avoiding spending time with their families on Christmas (remember, you can't spell families without "lies"), Kate and Brad find themselves in an unfortunate situation this year that forces them to spend Christmas with their divorced parents and very dysfunctional siblings. This concept could go either way for me because I really liked Christmas Vacation but disliked The Family Stone. Fortunately, just as it started out great this continued to be more like Christmas Vacation all the way through with several laugh out loud funny dialog and various slapstick that had the whole theater roaring with laughter. One of my favorite parts was a Nativity play where Vince Vaughn effectively delivers some hilarious over the top scenery chewing that had everybody in stitches... well, except Kate.

As funny as I thought this was, it wouldn't be a real Christmas movie without delivering some sort of constructive message among all the chaos. Since I can empathize with Vaughn in his situation with Kate, the film's resolution probably had more personal impact for me. I can also understand the criticism that most of the talented cast was wasted in comparison because the family situations were not addressed equally. What I liked the most about the film's brief serious turn is it wasn't syrupy while providing some genuine touching moments thanks to the believable acting skills of Reese Witherspoon, Vince Vaughn and of course the two screen legends, Bobby DuVall and Jon Voight. Best Christmas movie I've seen since Bad Santa and yes, I will listen to my girlfriend's suggestions without being such a Scrooge from now on:)