Do you think you're a beautiful, unique flower? Still under the delusion that you can live outside the norm, escaping society's conventions? Like to think you're somehow special? Well, Four Christmases is here to correct you of your silly fantasies, possibly taking your spirit while at it.The director of The King of Kong, a team of four writers (all pretty inexperienced) and a cast of thousands have gotten together to make a movie that ensures that you come out feeling no different than the rest of the schlumps in the theater. See, Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon play a Guy and Girl (I barely remember their names - Brad and Kate?) that have been dating for three years. They skip out on Christmas with their fractured families each year and instead take elaborate vacations. They go to dance classes and leave the soon-to-be-wed couples that join them wondering why they're taking dancing lessons if there's not a wedding upcoming. They play dress-up and create alternate identities to keep their love life going. Short story long - they're happy. And they're unconventional.
But that's about to change, all over the course of Eight Crazy Nights, er, Four Crazy Christmases, as our loving couple is forced to hang with their loser kin, realizing along the way how much they don't know and/or don't like about each other, only to change up the "rules" of their setup along the way.
If the film were half as funny as some of the better comedies this year (Tropic Thunder, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Role Models), I could forgive it's awful script and worse treatment of its characters. But as it is, it's heavily reliant on Ben-Stiller-there, done that hackneyed physical comedy, paper-thin characters, and so much more that I really don't care enough to get into. At least the Taboo scene is good, and they didn't even show that in the trailer. A waste of all the talent involved (Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Jon Favreau, everywhere-man Jon Voight) and a horrible follow-up for Kong director Seth Gordon.
Fletch's Film Rating:
"I want you to punch me as hard as you can."
8 people have chosen wisely: on "Fletch's Film Review: Four Christmases"
It's dissappointing that Seth Gordon followed up his incredible documentary with such crap.
dang, was it really that bad. The trailers looked somewhat funny
To me, the only thing I laughed at in the trailers was Favreau.
I found favreau annoying, but there were other characters barely or not in the trailer that were funny. Fletch, I do agree after a few more days thinking about it that the ending really didn't work. I liked the conversation they have about being open and such, but the final scene doesn't work.
...but it had Steve Wiebe in it! :-D
That has to count for something... ;-)
This very funny, very sharp little comedy is fast becoming the underrated cult film of the year
Farzan - no, it probably wasn't that bad. I mean, it certainly wasn't awful, but it also wasn't very smart humor. I get a kick out of Vaughn when he's riffing, but the lame phsycial comedy does nothing for me. There are other bright spots (the spot-on casting of the gal that plays Reese's sister) and other low spots (Ugh - more bad acting by Voight?), but mostly, I was just bothered my the message it sent. A weird thing to be bothered by with a holiday comedy, but it was offensive.
Matt Lucas - I don't know who Steve Weibe is. Help!
Lucy - thanks for commenting. However, the fact that you call this film, one of the most heavily marketed of the year, "little" and a "CULT" film, strikes me as bizarre and should send doubt into the minds of anyone who reads your words.
Steve Weibe was the King of Kong star, the underdog.
Post a Comment