Vince Vaughn Movie:

				Label: New Line Salesrank:
		MPAA Rating: Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
When your significant other tells you you both need an exit "safe word" before you enter his dad's Christmas gathering, you know you're not in Bedford Falls. But while Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon may not be "It's a Wonderful Life's" George and Mary Bailey, Four Christmases is a modern holiday classic in its own right. For one thing, every family neurosis and dysfunction have taken root in the four families of Vaughn and Witherspoon's characters, Brad and Kate--and the sleek yuppie façade each has built with the other is about to come tumbling down. There are real belly laughs as the couple unexpectedly has to spend holidays with their four extended family groups. "I don't want to speak ill of your mother on Christmas," growls Howard (Robert Duvall) to son Brad, while Brad's bullnecked ultimate-fighter brothers are rassling everything in sight, "but she's nothing but a common street whore." Brad may cringe, but Kate's own family is about to mortify her in abundant ways, from her randy "Gram-Gram" and about-to-pounce cougar mom Mary Steenburgen ("I feel like a Saudi prince in here," marvels Brad as all of Kate's female relatives drape themselves over him), to the revelation to Brad that Kate used to be--how to put this--a bit on the chubby side. If the plot isn't full of surprises, the quips are nonstop and the acting believable and charming. The supporting cast also includes Sissy Spacek, Jon Voight, Jon Favreau and Dwight Yoakam in a memorable turn as the mega-church pastor Steenburgen's character is involved with. It's a comic Christmas blessing, and there'll be no need to say "mistletoe"--at least not till the viewers are home with their own families. --A.T. Hurley

Four Christmases [Blu-ray] Reviews:
A Vince Vaughn Christmas
2009-01-02 - This was a pretty funny Christmas movie. It had a few of the guys from the movie 'Swingers' Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, and Jon Voight. The cast was really good. I got quite a few chuckles and then of course, because it is a Christmas movie, some heartfelt tugs. Not a big Reese Witherspoon fan, and I am still not but she was ok. Vince Vaughn does his thing and is really funny doing it. John Favereaux also shows up and is pretty funny himself as one of Vaughns meat head brothers.

Cute Movie
2008-12-26 - I thought this was a cute movie. I really enjoyed the entire movie and did not doze off once during the movie. I think I really liked it because I could relate to the people in the movie. Not to mention, it kept me laughing the entire time because I could relate. I suggest you see this movie. It is not really bad at all, in my opinion.

Why
2008-12-21 - It seems every year Hollywood busts out a Christmas movie that makes people wonder where has Christmas magic gone? While Deck The Halls was my all time worst Christmas film, this one is a close second. I wanted to walk out after the first half hour. There are a few laughs but the script it poor and it feels like forced acting. If there is a sequel, god help us all.

Predictable, terrible, and terribly predictable.
2008-12-18 - Here is yet another Christmas movie that leaves no stereotypical stone unturned. From the randy grandma character ("Wedding Crashers", "The Wedding Singer" . . . seriously, why do writers NEVER get sick of this character? It's not remotely funny anymore.) to the bonehead brothers to the father who resents his son's success, the gang is all here. Vince Vaughn does his usual oblivious insensitive boyfriend thing and the script these cardboard cut-out characters are given to work with hits you over the head with its obvious themes of family, bonding and babies. After the "perfect" couple show off their vibrant sex life (pretending to meet at a bar as strangers and getting it on in a bathroom) and give a giant anti-kids and marriage speech, you already know that this entire movie will be devoted to quickly changing at least one of their minds about all their ideas of what happiness is supposed to be. And so Reese Witherspoon is handed a baby at practically every house, so she can suddenly start thinking "Gee, I guess I'm missing out on something with my successful relationship and career. I'd better get knocked up or I'll never feel fulfilled as a woman!" And at every house, they get to see a couple that "really know each other," no matter how poor or uneducated they may be, to drive home the point that the two leads don't really know each other at all, despite being together for three years. Their favorite thing to do when they're together is pretend to be other people, get it? They were never really themselves, and therefore their relationship is flawed. You can figure out for yourself how the rest this sap-fest movie ends.

You know what I'd love to see? Just once, a movie where a woman realizes that it's okay to live a life without children to "fulfill" her and to start realizing instead that kids are expensive, smelly, whiny, fatigue-inducing ungrateful little germ-infested noisemakers who drain both your sanity and your wallet that you're stuck with for the rest of your life, and then waltz off into the sunset living happily ever after while her friends sacrifice their vacations and dreams so they can sock money away into a college fund that their kid will decide not to use when they drop out after one semester to join a rock band.

But hey, that's just me and I have weird tastes. I like movies where I can't see every twist coming and don't leave it feeling as if someone's force-fed me enough sugar to put me into a diabetic coma. You may be different, and if so please enjoy every rancid moment of this pathetic holiday fruitcake.

FUNNY, BUT.........
2008-12-14 - If you are just looking for a comedy, this will do passingly well. It is not a great movie by any means and I probably would have gone 2 1/2 stars had it been possible. I was entertained and I got to see the movie for free so I can easily say I got my money's worth. On the flip side, if you are looking for a movie to give you the Christmas spirit or something feel good, there are probably better options. The movie is not about four years of Christmas, it is about a couple having to spend Christmases whith each divorced parent in a single day. I am sure the main intent of the movie is to simply be funny. But, the thrashing that the family image takes on each visit is almost irreparable by the last 10 minutes in which the movie attempts to redeem the positives of a companion and children. Don't get me wrong, I am not married and have my own doubts. This movie did absolutely nothing to improve the image and the token scene in the end was of almost no value in smoothing over a fairly depressing depiction of all the ways family can suck. I recommend it for a rental and I still think it is worth a watch for the right reasons. It is just a comedy.