Rated PG-13 for some sexual humor and language.
Directed by Seth Gordon
Starring Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Jon Voight, Sissy Spacek, Dwight Yoakum, Mary Steenburgen, John Favreau and Tim McGraw
Four Christmases has a great cast but no morals.
Brad and Kate have been together three years, in love, having fun, doing all sorts of things together with no intention of marriage or children. Christmas morning, they're on their way to Fiji, having told their two sets of divorced parents that they're off to do charity work. But when the San Francisco fog rolls in and a TV crew interviews them live, they have no choice but to visit each of their four parents. As the day progresses, Brad and Kate remember growing up, each learns more about the other, and Kate realizes that her life may not be as good as it could be. Do they know each other well enough to weather the storms families bring?
Whatever happened to the fun family Christmas movies? You remember films like It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street…right? Well Four Christmases is about as far from those classics as you can get. I’m not saying it’s not as raunchy as Funny People or The Ugly Truth but there is an overwhelming anti-marriage message throughout the film. Is it too much to ask for a movie that delivers on some of that Christmas warm and fuzzy?
As far as the cast goes, it’s solid. Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon are great but John Favreau and Tim McGraw in their small roles are fantastic. The only negative there is the Vince Vaughn rants. From Swingers to Fred Claus, Vince has delivered some very memorable rants over the years, but the rants in Four Christmases are…I have to say it…so lame. Two different times I actually turned to my wife and said, “That was terrible.”
It’s not the worst Christmas movie, but it certainly isn’t rental material…I say “Skip It.”
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
This is typically PG-13 trash and I wouldn’t recommend it for children.
Side Note:
As said above, we don’t recommend your kids see this film. But on the occasion that they actually have already seen it, you may want to dialogue about the film with them. These questions below may be a help to you.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
