SYNOPSIS: Romantic Comedy. When upscale, happily unmarried San Francisco couple Kate and Brad find themselves socked in by fog on Christmas morning, their exotic vacation plans morph into the family-centric holiday they had, until now, gleefully avoided. Out of obligation--and unable to escape--they trudge to not one, not two, but four relative-choked festivities, increasingly mortified to find childhood fears raised, adolescent wounds reopened...and their very future together uncertain. As Brad counts the hours to when he can get away from their parents, step-parents, siblings and an assortment of nieces and nephews, Kate is starting to hear the ticking of a different kind of clock. And by the end of the day, she is beginning to wonder if their crazy families' choices are not so crazy after all.

REVIEW: When you see a movie with a title including the word Christmas or any word related to the Holidays, you probably are asserted that the film has to be what is normally called a family film. A movie that is able to get a strong family oriented message, and that would emotionally move the entire family one way or the other. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule like the horror film "Black Christmas", which is just pure entertainment for some people. “Four Christmases” easily falls in that category. A film which is not your typical Christmas movie, but it has enough sarcastic humor to make it a fun ride for many movie goers.

Four Christmases is the second Christmas film in a row for Vince Vaughn, who last year also started in the film "Fred Claus" next to Paul Giamanti. A film that was more family oriented, but wasn't appealing enough to meet critics' expectations.

As a film critic sometimes it is difficult to ignore or avoid reading about an upcoming comedy, especially finding a way to skip watching its trailer. Fortunately for me I was able to do just that. Going into this film the only information that I knew about the picture was that it was called "Four Christmases" and the cast included Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon. With that in mind the movie just surprised me. I was expecting to see another Vince attempt to create a classic Christmas Comedy. On the other hand, I found a enjoyable comedy about four dysfunctional families that provide a good explanation as to why for some people it is better stay away from your family even during Christmas.

There is one main reason why this film works. Vince Vaughn brought some of his "I know everything" character from "Wedding Crashers", giving the film enough funny scenes to keep audiences laughing. Also Reese Witherspoon was a nice complement for Vince. As we all know the Academy Award winner knows how to do drama as well as comedy.

Many people will hate this movie either because it doesn't fall into the typical Christmas film that we are used to watching or because they don't find it funny at all. However many will like it enough to recommend it. Overall Four Christmases is just an adult comedy with a Christmas spirit, able to provide enough laughs to be enjoy.

Movie Review By The Critic