Four Christmases (M, 79mins) Directed by Seth Gordon **
Ah, the Christmas movie. A regular Hollywood staple for generations, its quality really did sink to new lows in the 1990s and noughties.
While more than 70 years on, It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street are still regarded fondly, those who witnessed Deck the Halls, Christmas with the Kranks or Jingle All the Way are still trying to get the horror of out of their mind.
2008’s most high-profile Yuletide fable was the story of Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon).
Happily living together for the past three years, the pair love spending time together. However, they have no plans to tie the knot or start a family, despite pressure from friends and family. Studiously avoiding family Christmases by pretending to go on volunteer expeditions – “after all you can’t spell families without lies”, Brad believes – the pair this year have a trip to Fiji lined up. But when a San Franciscan pea-souper delays them by a day and their grounded plight is captured on local television, Brad and Kate find themselves forced to pay a visit to all four households.
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Despite boasting four writers, this dreary festive film is a by-the-numbers cookie-cutter Christmas rom-com. As well as bringing out the old chestnuts of the foul-mouthed granny, the cougar mom, the redneck dad and the psycho brother, Four also has a troubling amount of violence committed by and to children.
An unholy combination of what were at the time relatively recent ghosts of Christmases past, Kranks and The Family Stone, the film also bears striking resemblances to Vaughn’s The Break-Up and Witherspoon’s Sweet Home Alabama.
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Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn teamed up for the less-than-impressive 2008 festive rom-com Four Christmases.
Best known for his excellent work on documentary King of Kong, director Seth Gordon just seems unable to breathe much life into what is essentially a series of vignettes. Talent like Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, Robert Duvall and Jon Favreau are all saddled with one-dimensional characters, while Vaughn and Witherspoon aren’t firing on all cylinders.
An over-reliance on physical humour overshadows the few nice gags revolving around a fear of bouncy castles, present-spending caps and playing Taboo. Treat yourself this – and every – Christmas and steer well clear.
Four Christmases is now available to stream on ThreeNow.
