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Movies / Upcoming / Four Christmases
Four Christmases

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Four Christmases (2008)

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Reviews Counted:139

Fresh:35

Rotten:104

Average Rating:4.3/10

Consensus: Despite a strong cast, this sour holiday comedy suffers from a hackneyed script.

Runtime: 88 mins

Genre: Comedies

US Box Office: $120,136,047

Synopsis: Documentarian Seth Gordon (THE KING OF KONG: A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS) makes his feature film directorial debut with FOUR CHRISTMASES. Kate (Reese Witherspoon) and Brad (Vince Vaughn) are a happily... Documentarian Seth Gordon (THE KING OF KONG: A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS) makes his feature film directorial debut with FOUR CHRISTMASES. Kate (Reese Witherspoon) and Brad (Vince Vaughn) are a happily unmarried couple who avoid spending Christmas with their families at all costs and instead travel to exotic locales. But when they find themselves fogged in at the San Francisco airport and their flight to Fiji cancelled, they have no choice but to spend the holiday with their divorced parents and the rest of their dysfunctional relatives. From his wrestling brothers and cradle-robbing mother to her oversexed grandmother and perfect sister, the couple is forced to face their worst nightmare head-on. Kate and Brad's greatest fears are realized as their families share their most personal secrets. This film addresses broader themes of how people really know each other and the importance of connecting with family, no matter how crazy they might be. Vaughn and Witherspoon have nice chemistry as a couple that thought they had everything they wanted, improvising and playing off of each other well. Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek appear as Brad's parents, while Jon Voight and Mary Steenburgen play Kate's parents. Jon Favreau and Tim McGraw are a hoot as Brad's tormenting brothers, and Kristen Chenoweth fits the bill as Kate's sister. Parents should be aware that the film includes adult language and themes, and some comments about Santa that may upset young children. [More]

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Jon Favreau

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Jon Favreau, Mary Steenburgen, Dwight Yoakam, Tim McGraw, Kristin Chenoweth, Jon Voight, Sissy Spacek

Director: Seth Gordon

Director: Seth Gordon
Screenwriter: Matt Allen, Caleb Wilson
Producer: Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Jon Glickman, Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon
Composer: Alex Wurman
Studio: New Line Cinema

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1 - 4 of 5

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Reviews for Four Christmases

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61 - 80 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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Delightful apart but deadly together, Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn look, throughout Four Christmases, as if they just want to get this thing over with.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
11/26/08
Carla Meyer
Carla Meyer
Sacramento Bee

Four Christmases is a fun and fascinating -- if ultimately featherweight -- comedy not only for the whole family, but for every kind of them.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment 1 Comment
11/26/08
Todd Gilchrist
Todd Gilchrist
IGN Movies

Four Christmases is refreshingly tart and lean, forgoing the usual schmaltz and syrup of the season.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment 4 Comments
11/26/08
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The difference between the average unfunny comedy and this one is the difference between Grandpa telling you knock-knock jokes and Grandpa telling you knock-knock jokes with his bathrobe open as his hand creeps up your thigh.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment 1 Comment
11/26/08
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post

Think of it as fun tear-away wrapping on what's essentially a boring pair of socks.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
11/26/08
Joe Neumaier
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News

It really needs to be stamped Don't Open Until DVD.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
11/26/08
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger

Vaughn and Witherspoon are clearly having a lot of fun snapping each other's synapses, and their sense of play gives the whole easygoing, formulaic enterprise a welcome jolt.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment 1 Comment
11/26/08
Mike Russell
Mike Russell
Oregonian

Four Christmases generates some laughs here and there, but it's wildly uneven, and too often sets aside the generous gifts of a pretty good cast in favor of cheesy slapstick.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
11/26/08
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

The cynicism may not hold up as we get closer to the holiday itself, but with a little distance between us and the reason for the season, they did make me laugh.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
11/26/08
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

It's Four Christmases in need of a wedding, or maybe a funeral.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
11/26/08
Susan Walker
Susan Walker
Toronto Star

There's always the underlying feeling that what you're seeing is eerily familiar.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
11/26/08
Cammila Albertson
Cammila Albertson
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Holiday romcom is amiable but centers on family dysfunction.

Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | comment Comment
11/26/08
S. Jhoanna Robledo
S. Jhoanna Robledo
Common Sense Media

One and a half Christmases is about all that's worth celebrating in Four Christmases.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
11/26/08
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

To brand, then dismiss, Four Christmases as a disappointment would be giving it too much credit -- never, for a second, did this New Line Cinema cast-off scream or even whisper decent in the run-up to its opening.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
11/26/08
Robert Wilonsky
Robert Wilonsky
Village Voice

To earn a more helpful R rating, the filmmakers should have gone ahead and dropped a couple of F-bombs alongside the references to 'street whores,' nipples, senior sex and vomit.

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
11/26/08
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Very funny, very touching, and very real, and it's not too hard to believe that, though it might not be remembered as a classic, it'll become a holiday favorite for many.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment 2 Comments
11/26/08
Josh Hurst
Josh Hurst
Christianity Today

Several maraschino cherries short of a fruitcake.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
11/26/08
Dan Zak
Dan Zak
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Here's a clue for people who make movies like Four Christmases: if your holiday season is that awful, keep it to yourself.

Full Review Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette | comment Comment
11/26/08
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Can someone please establish a Vince Vaughn Support Group?

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
11/26/08
Joshua Rothkopf
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York

A sequence in which they dress up as Mary and Joseph for a Nativity play is genuinely funny. The rest of Four Christmases doesn't do them justice.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
11/26/08
Rene Rodriguez
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald
 
 
61 - 80 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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Latest News for Four Christmases

November 30, 2008: Box Office Guru Wrapup: Four Christmases has a lot to be thankful for this weekend
Four Christmases had a sensational Thanksgiving weekend in the number one spot. Bolt picked up the pace while the sun started to set on Twilight. More...

November 28, 2008: UK Critics Consensus: Local Critics Warm To Changeling; De Niro Delights But What Just Happened Doesn't
It's Friday, there's a new raft of movies in the UK cinemas this week, but are any of them any good? This week the UK film hacks give us their opinions on Clint Eastwood's... More...

November 26, 2008: Box Office Guru Preview: Vince & Reese Offer Holiday Cheer
The Thanksgiving holiday weekend sees a wide variety of films in the multiplexes giving all kinds of moviegoers something to see over the extended five-day session. Leading the... More...

November 25, 2008: Critics Consensus: Four Christmases Gets Coal
This week at the movies, we've got yuletide yucks (Four Christmases, starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon), an epic from Down Under (Australia, starring Nicole Kidman and... More...

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