Four Christmases
User Score
4.5 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 53 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 53
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 53
  3. Negative: 20 out of 53

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  1. ChadS.
    Dec 4, 2008
    4
    Blink and you may miss it; it being the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots in Brad's childhood room. Red robot. Blue robot. Red state. Blue state. Brad(Vince Vaughn) and Kate(Reese Witherspoon) grew up rooting for the red robot, but now they're backing the blue robot, ever since they left home to escape horrific childhoods that made them feel small. "Four Christmases" is a game of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, which disappointingly, ends in a muddling draw. At the outset, the blue robot brings it; he throws a few body blows to conservative ideology(Brad's brothers are named Denver and Dallas: two notably red state cities), knocking family values and the church into submission. But then, those twin pillars of Republican mind control receives its smelling salts by the red robot's trainer and rallies to rope-a-dope the blue robot. So the sparring match goes the distance, so it goes to the judges' decision. It's a draw. In Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punch-Drunk Love", Barry(Adam Sandler) survives a childhood marred by constant verbal(and perhaps, physical) abuse from his siblings, just like the Liberal Elitist in "Four Christmases", who was formerly known as Orlando. While the Sandler-Is-A-Serious-Actor vehicle never delves into the Emily Watson character's past, the audience can gauge that her childhood wasn't a particularly rosy one either, such was Kate's formative years, in which the fairer Liberal Elitist suffered the same low self-esteem issues at the hands of her family. Without realizing it, because they kept their "hick" pasts a secret, Brad and Kate are a perfect match. A "Punch-Drunk Love"-like storyline could have materialized, but it doesn't, because their trip to Fiji is thwared by fog(incidentally, Hawaii, the setting for Barry and Lena's vacation, gets a mention). In its place, echoes of Paul Schrader's "Affliction"(the final conversation between father(James Coburn) and son(Nick Nolte)) can be discerned as Brad talks to his hard-ass father(Robert Duvall) late in the film. "Four Christmases" is most convincing when the blue robot hits below the belt; then out of the blue, Kate's family suddenly becomes warmer and more nurturing at a new venue(her father's house), not soon after Kate's first confrontation with her sister(Kristen Chenowith) and mother(Mary Steenburgen), which ably explains why she hadn't returned home in years.… Expand
  2. DebbieM.
    Dec 1, 2008
    4
    This movie seemed like it would be cute for adults but there is a lot of adult sexual scenes and content. I had my 13 and 12 year old with me and we had to leave the movie about 50 min. into it as it was way too inappropriate. And that was after letting about 4-5 sexual comments, etc. slide. Their is also a Santa spoiler so parents beware on this one. It's sad to me that this is what the movie industry feels is appropriate for 13 year olds.… Expand
  3. cameronmorewood
    Nov 15, 2012
    4
    It's an absolute bore. We've got a bunch of good people working off a sucky script, and that always leads to bad stuff.
  4. AaronL.
    Nov 26, 2008
    2
    Nothing vince vaughn makes was ever funny, and Im skeptical how the last Christmas flick (fred clause) never got the bad grade it deserved, now that the reviewers have some sense, this movie takes all the bad things about the holiday flicks and exposes them for what they really are- A project to build up the funds.
  5. ND
    Nov 28, 2008
    2
    Took my mom to it, she was excited about it, but not even she could get over how horribly disastrous this movie was. It was painful to watch the eye-rolling humor followed by quasi serious scenes of witherspoon and vaughn trying to act out life lessons learned. Terrible film.
  6. Viki
    Dec 20, 2008
    2
    Vince Vaugh and Reese Witherspoon makes the worst couple ever on screen, worse than 'The Breakup'. This movie is a typical xmas genre with spills and kills you'd expect from the trying to survive actor Vince Vaugh. Rent a movie at home.
  7. ChrisP.
    Dec 28, 2008
    2
    If watching some nice guy who hasn't really done anything wrong, get the crap beaten out of him by his brothers in his dad's living room while his dad verbally abuses him strikes you as somehow funny, then you might enjoy this movie. I didn't find it funny, and sometimes found it a little upsetting, to be honest. The basic joke in most of the family scenes is: families push your boundaries in inappropriate ways, causing embarrassment. Only, that's not intrinsically funny, it has to be made funny by some kind of wit or twist or surprise, which as far as I can tell is lacking here. The main characters are urban yuppies who don't want to get married or have kids, and maybe you're supposed to hate them, hate them with such a passion that seeing them turned into emotional (and sometimes physical) punching bags is really enjoyable for you, and maybe you're supposed to believe that the urge to marry and have kids is so natural that it will overcome people eventually if they're just exposed to other people's families for a day. Or maybe it's just that the script was put together by four credited writers, and who knows how many uncredited ones, and it just really didn't come together. But if you want to watch comedy about family over the Christmas break, you're better off renting the first two seasons of Arrested Development. Infinitely so.… Expand
  8. TankJ.
    Dec 11, 2008
    2
    The movie seems unfinished...almost like the edited it to get it under 90 minutes. Anyway, very few funny moments. This movie is horrible.
  9. csw12
    Sep 2, 2012
    2
    Okay lets begin. The movie's first lets say 15 minutes was okay the rest dreadful and painful. The movie went into low gear after 20 minutes and stayed there the rest of time. Almost feel asleep.
  10. Trev29
    Sep 2, 2012
    2
    This movie sucked. There was nothing good about it. I actually fell asleep because it was that terrible. How does this even pass as a Christmas movie. Disappointed.
  11. HansC.
    Nov 30, 2008
    0
    Amazing that Christmas fare could have sunk this low. Better to stay home and watch a Christmas film from 50 years ago, rented from Netflix.
  12. Rick
    Nov 26, 2008
    0
    This movie is so bad that you will feel you're degrading yourself if you haven't walked out of the theater before an hour has passed. If this is what passes for holiday fare these days, we should feel no loss if Babylon should be destroyed in the next earthquake/mudslide/firestorm.
  13. lilkillpappy
    Dec 31, 2012
    0
    soooo baaaaaaad. Boring boring boring boring. Predictable as hell. Uninspired acting. Boring script. Cheesy 1 dimensional characters. Pointless beyond all belief. Visually hideous. I have not been this completely and utterly annoyed by a film since Cat Woman.

Critic Reviews

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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
  1. 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.
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  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    40
    Oddly misanthropic, occasionally amusing but thoroughly cheerless holiday attraction that is in no way a family film.
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  3. 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.
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