Four Christmases Review

Judging by this festive gag-a-thon and Fred Claus from 2007, Vince Vaughn is on the way to joining garish knitwear and Brussels sprouts as one of the things we dread most about Christmas. Awkward family gatherings traditionally top that list so it seems only fitting that, as producer of Four Christmases, this should be his chosen subject. He shares the screen with Reese Witherspoon, playing a high-flying couple forced to spend the big day visiting every one of their divorced, crackpot parents.

In the opening 10 minutes, Brad (Vaughn) and Kate (Witherspoon) meet, fall in love, move in together and generally act like a couple of grinning extras in a home furnishings ad. Their life is picture perfect except they have no desire to get married or have children. At least, that's what they tell everyone. Life seems to imitate art - or this movie anyway - because it's Brad who does most of the talking while Kate nods and smiles. It's hardly the best use of Witherspoon who has proved before that she can crack wise as well as anybody.

As usual, Vaughn improvises most of his dialogue and while the results are sometimes amusing, they're never quite hilarious. When his parents call to ask about the couple's Christmas plans, he rattles off a wild, windy tale about going on an aid mission to Burma. Three years into the relationship, Brad and Kate still haven't met each others' families and instead pack their bags for a trip to Fiji. Of course the plan quickly hits the skids. The 'Frisco fog rolls in, grounding all flights and, to top it off, they're captured on live TV at the airport. Left with no excuses, they make a date to revisit their childhood traumas four times over.