BY MAGGIE SCOTT<\/p>\n
According to the popular song, “there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no place like home for the holidays,” Brad and Kate would beg to differ: Fiji is more like it this year. Other years it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been Bali, Costa Rica, Hawaii. Why? <\/p>\n
Well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what “Four Christmases,” the latest prodigal children-make-peace-with-family yuletide comedy is all about. For years, phone calls have been the extent to which Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon) have been willing to let the divorced parents connect at Christmas (“we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to Burma to do charity work”) with the unmarried couple\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s comfortable lives in San Francisco. <\/p>\n
This December 25th, however, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to be forced to face what has made them no-shows in the lives of their mothers and fathers and assorted relatives. Caught on TV news camera in their island getaway gear at the airline counter of the fogged-in, flights-canceled airport, Brad and Kate answer curious calls from Mom and Dad and reluctantly agree to change their plans. <\/p>\n
From lovey-dovey, Brad and Kate go to biting each other\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head off in the car, anticipating the misery to come as they contemplate close proximity to their families\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 embarrassing personalities and lifestyles. “Promise we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll still have each other,” Kate implores Brad; unaware that after their folks get through with them, they may be as close to losing each other as they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever come. <\/p>\n
Why? Because their willing absence has made them fair game for family members disappointed in or resentful of what they perceive as the couple\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sense of superiority. Brad and Kate say they aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t willing to mess up a good thing by getting married. They say they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not interested in having children. They think they know each other. <\/p>\n
They believe they have a more meaningful, normal life than: a combine-driving father (Robert Duvall) who calls his ex-wife a street walker; than grown men (Jon Favreau; Tim McGraw) who think the best way to show affection to their brother is to treat him like an opponent in a cage fight; than a mother (Sissy Spacek) who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unashamedly snuggling with Brad\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best friend; than a sister (Kristen Chenowith) who is never happier than when she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pregnant; than a mother (Mary Steenburgen) who has gotten that old-time religion and the pastor (Dwight Yoakam) who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s preaching it; than a father (Jon Voight) who finally learned after several divorces that “nothing beats being honest about who you are and what you need.” <\/p>\n
But after spending some time with the people who knew them when Brad was called Orlando (named after the city in which he was conceived) and Kate went to a fat camp, one of them is going to realize that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not such a good thing if you believe that commitment and sharing your life with a child is going to mess up a good thing like love and never wanting to be without each other. <\/p>\n
Good-naturedly vulgar and juvenile in spots, with the gags and pranks flying hot and heavy, the story makes some sweet points about the importance of family. Vaughn is at his zany best and Witherspoon makes a lovely, witty second banana. A New Line release, rated PG-13 for sexual humor and language. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BY MAGGIE SCOTT According to the popular song, “there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no place like home for the holidays,” Brad and Kate would beg to differ: Fiji is more like it this year. Other years it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been Bali, Costa Rica, Hawaii. Why? Well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what “Four Christmases,” the latest prodigal children-make-peace-with-family yuletide comedy is all about. For years, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n