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Four Christmases
Metascore
41 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 27 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 27
  3. Negative: 10 out of 27
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  1. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    88
    Four Christmases works because of some genuinely funny setups, a pace that never dwells on one gag (or even one family) too long and a careful mix of slapstick and bawdy humor. But mostly, the film works because of the astonishing acting talent the filmmakers brought together to make it.
  2. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    75
    Vaughn delivers every line with his usual deadpan glibness, which suits the part. But I smiled as I watched the big-bellied, multi-chinned actor connecting with the porcelain, model-thin Witherspoon.
  3. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    70
    Gordon's best not-so-secret weapons, though, are his two stars: Vaughn and Witherspoon are an inspired pairing, not least because they're such a mismatched set of salt-and-pepper shakers.
  4. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    70
    Refreshingly tart and lean, forgoing the usual schmaltz and syrup.
  5. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    67
    Crassly enjoyable.
  6. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: M. E. Russell
    67
    It's pleasantly funny, and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, from start to finish, even when it's staging broad, easy gags about baby barf and fat kids.
  7. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    50
    We got two gold-record singers and they don't sing? So? We got five Oscar-winning actors, and they don't need to act much.
  8. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Cammila Albertson
    50
    It's well acted and it's entertaining -- and who can resist a movie where Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau are brothers, and Robert Duvall is their dad?
  9. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    50
    The film has its funny moments, but they are too few to make the holiday excursion worthwhile.
  10. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    50
    Four Christmases is waste of time and a disappointment, but it's also relatively painless.
  11. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Dan Zak
    50
    The only laughs come from Vaughn, a master of ingratiation. Witherspoon is no Roz Russell or Lucille Ball. But she fills space nicely.
  12. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    50
    This is marginally better than most, with a few offbeat comic ideas, a reliably droll performance from Vaughn, and, as the parents, four watchable old troupers in search of a fat paycheck.
  13. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Sean Axmaker
    42
    Neither clever nor heartwarming, Four Christmases is the coal in the stocking of holiday movies.
  14. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    42
    The result is two bad movies in one: a gimmicky romantic comedy, and one of those seasonal headaches that submits loud family dysfunction as a vehicle for Christmas cheer.
  15. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Joe Neumaier
    40
    Like the last gift buried under singing Billy Bass fish, dancing Coke cans, joke books and mounds of wrapping paper, there's a glimmer of fun in Four Christmases that almost gets vacuumed up with the tinsel.
  16. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Rick Kisonak
    40
    To put it in the best light possible, I recommend thinking of Four Christmases not so much as a really short movie but as a very special holiday episode of a sitcom.
  17. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    40
    Oddly misanthropic, occasionally amusing but thoroughly cheerless holiday attraction that is in no way a family film.
  18. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    38
    A generic oven-stuffer that wants to be a stocking-stuffer, is a turkey, despite the foil wrapping and some artfully deployed tinsel.
  19. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    38
    Four Christmases is essentially "Meet the Parents" quadrupled.
  20. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    30
    Bad enough to create one of the most joyless Christmas movies ever, but then to go for an unearned feel-good ending adds insult to injury.
  21. NPR
    Reviewed by: Bob Mondello
    30
    Alas, there's scarcely a moment of ingenuity or surprise in this tale of the supremely smug, unmarried-but-made-for-each-other Brad and Kate.
  22. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Steve Davis
    30
    This year's entry in this lowly subgenre is Four Christmases, a D-list comedy with A-list actors.
  23. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    25
    As Vaughn's therapist mother, Sissy Spacek comes off best. But she's a rare bird of whom it truly can be said: She's always good. No matter how grim the material.
  24. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    25
    Four Christmases is sour to the point of curdling, a satirical look at the holidays a la "Bad Santa" that does exactly what that film avoided: come off as both off-puttingly misanthropic and gloppily sentimental.
  25. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Ruthe Stein
    25
    This is a movie of excesses that doesn't know when to settle down. It aims to be a slapstick comedy, a romantic comedy and a plain old romance but falls short of each goal.
  26. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    12
    The movie boasts five Oscar winners. That figure exceeds by five the number of times I laughed at this cheap collection of icky jokes.
  27. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Robert Wilonsky
    10
    The movie doesn't offer a single surprise within its scant 82 minutes, which feel like at least twice that.
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User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
4.8 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 44 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 20
  3. Negative: 7 out of 20
  1. JamesB.
    5
    Not very festive.
  2. JamesH.
    6
    Decent Christmas movie, there are some funny scenes, some clunkers as well, but overall it was entertaining and it has a fine group of actors. The stars, Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn have a good chemistry, Sissy Spacek is great in a supporting role.… Full Review »
  3. ToniW.
    7
    Very Funny!!!!
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