Four Christmases

Vince Vaughn returns in a romantic comedy that is more comedy than romantic which is fine by me. Sweet acting but not that special to loo at Reese Witherspoon was his sidekick.

Katy Mixon is scene in this movie and she is wonderful to look at. Funny, she plays a loving mother and she is dressed for this part and the childless, supposed to be hot Reese Witherspoon is not nearly as attactive as the voluptious Mixon.

The other attractive face in this movie is Kristin Chenoweth who looks allot better in the movie than the pictures of her at the premier. Wow, I am not even sure if this is the same person who I am thinking of in the movie. She plays Reese's sister. Reese's face is just not that cute.

The most hilarious part in this movie is when Vaughn is getting beat up by his brothers and his brother has him pinned on the ground and his nephew jumps on him, calls him a bitch and is slapping him. Vaughn is screaming during this punishment and it is just totally funny. The first half of this movie is unique and entertaining. The second half, the movie loses it's luster and drive. The energy and spontaniety dips and declines. It is disappointed. It does not come close to Burn After Reading or Pineapple Express.

Tim McGraw is present in this movie but does not have allot of lines. I am not why he is doing this, one would think he would rather spent time with his stunning wife-Faith Hill-than take these parts. He has a powerful but short part in the movie The Kingdom as well. Does he need extra pocket change? Whatever.

The movie has a funny and creative plot. Witherspoon and Vaughn have a relationship where they spend every Christmas or holiday period telling their families they will not see them over the holiday break or concoct a story to them while they take off to some fantastical vacation. Fiji, the Bahamas, etc. While they are scuba diving and drinking martinis on the beach their families believe they are in some third world hell hole serving food or digging piping ditches. Their luck runs out when the fog rolls into the San Francisco airport and grounds all the flights. Then, strangely enough, a media crew is shooting a story on what do people do when their vacation plans are canceled, Vaughn and Witherspoon are on camera and their families see them. Then their cell phones ring and their families are insisting they spend some time with them. This is their worst nightmare, they do not want to spend time with their families.

The comedy coincides with the story here. The truth comes out. Both have pasts they wanted to keep in the closet. Both could have avoided this embarrassment if they were truthful or had an open relationship. They have been dating for over 3 years now.

Vaughn is charismatic, large, and hilarious. Like Jennifer Aniston in the The Break-Up, Witherspoon is just pushed aside literally by Vaughn. These small woman, are not as funny nor as charming as Vaughn. Vaughn makes the film, he is just naturally funny, it is not acting to him. These female actors, with their best acting days, can not compete with what Vaughn has been doing his entire life. Even if he was working at boring Wells Fargo, he would be making customers and co-workers laugh. Hollywood needs to find a female actress who is naturally funny and attractive to make it really work. I can not think of that person, since most attractive females are not comically gifted. Witherspoon is really not that attractive any how and Ryan Phillippe is probably not missing much.

In family situations, Witherspoon deals with some babies and realizes she wants one. Towards the end, her and Vaughn discuss this and he is adamantly opposed. They momentarily break up but then hook back up. Vaughn is funny, he just rolls off lines like it is nothing, saying kids are walking tax shelters. His justification, or just one of them, for having children is funny.

Robert Duvall and Jon Voight both star in this movie. Both are Hollywood heavyweights. Duvalls scenes, atleast in the beginning, are more comical than Voights. This is just because Voight is just shown at the end when Witherspoon's character is pouting. Atleast Kristin Chenoweth is shown again.

I would allocate this movie 1 star because the second half of the movie was real weak. *