Four Christmases Tries Hard
December 13th 2008 05:41
In an industry where so many of the key decisions makers have discarded, or never been equipped with, a moral compass, there needs to be some respect given when a valiant attempt at creating decent entertainment with as little offence as possible.
Such a film is the recent release, Four Christmases, starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon. It tries so hard to take the misery that is family Christmas celebrations for so many, and turn it into a tight little comedy with a heart.
And it ALMOST makes it.
No doubt there are some uproarious moments, as the main characters, Brad and Kate - the ultimate hedonists – at first weave their devious web of deceit to avoid Christmas Day celebrations with their fractured family, and then, must suffer through more family exposure in one day than in their entire 3 year relationship. As a highlight, the baby vomit and satellite installation scenes are more than a chuckle.
Sadly though, the entertainment generated by a clever script, Vaughn’s improv-like patter and comedic timing, Witherspoon’s command of her craft and quality contributions from Robert Duvall, Mary Steenburgen, Sissy Spacek, Jon Voight, and others, is denuded of its merit by the often crass nature of the conversations, sexual innuendo, and frequent low level coarse language. Nothing major in terms of obscenity – no JCs, one easily missed S – but just too low a brow.
To be specific, as far as Ambush Alerts go, the one s-word appears out of nowhere, and was completely unwarranted. The heavy visual dependence on conspicuous cleavage was distasteful, and the frequent reference to sexual behavior un-needed. The fact that the whole movie is about a couple who refuse to get married says plenty about what to expect, and the opening ‘role-playing’ sequence may be difficult for some to get past.
As far as family movies are concerned, it would be impossible to recommend this. My boys will be going nowhere near it, and despite the PG-13 MPAA rating, it seems very crude and overly suggestive for a young teen audience.
But the makers did try. Keep trying, too, and maybe next time, they’ll nail it.
Such a film is the recent release, Four Christmases, starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon. It tries so hard to take the misery that is family Christmas celebrations for so many, and turn it into a tight little comedy with a heart.
And it ALMOST makes it.
No doubt there are some uproarious moments, as the main characters, Brad and Kate - the ultimate hedonists – at first weave their devious web of deceit to avoid Christmas Day celebrations with their fractured family, and then, must suffer through more family exposure in one day than in their entire 3 year relationship. As a highlight, the baby vomit and satellite installation scenes are more than a chuckle.
Sadly though, the entertainment generated by a clever script, Vaughn’s improv-like patter and comedic timing, Witherspoon’s command of her craft and quality contributions from Robert Duvall, Mary Steenburgen, Sissy Spacek, Jon Voight, and others, is denuded of its merit by the often crass nature of the conversations, sexual innuendo, and frequent low level coarse language. Nothing major in terms of obscenity – no JCs, one easily missed S – but just too low a brow.
To be specific, as far as Ambush Alerts go, the one s-word appears out of nowhere, and was completely unwarranted. The heavy visual dependence on conspicuous cleavage was distasteful, and the frequent reference to sexual behavior un-needed. The fact that the whole movie is about a couple who refuse to get married says plenty about what to expect, and the opening ‘role-playing’ sequence may be difficult for some to get past.
As far as family movies are concerned, it would be impossible to recommend this. My boys will be going nowhere near it, and despite the PG-13 MPAA rating, it seems very crude and overly suggestive for a young teen audience.
But the makers did try. Keep trying, too, and maybe next time, they’ll nail it.
| 63 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog