Every Christmas, Hollywood sends a couple of films that revolve around the dynamics of dysfunctional families and how they interact over the holidays. While there always seems to be one that rises to the top, with some genuine humor or a true Christian narrative, most of these Christmas films are usually formulaic retreads of previous stories released during previous Christmas seasons. While Four Christmases does have its humorous moments, it unfortunately falls right smack in the middle of all those other forgettable films from the ghosts of Christmas past.

Overview: The story revolves around long time live-ins Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon) who aren’t married and let everyone know that that’s the way they like it. Both come from broken homes and do all they can to make sure they never have to see their families again, especially around the holidays. To make sure of this, every Christmas they go on a vacation and tell their families they are off supporting noble causes around the world. When Brad and Kate are seen on the local news as their flight is being canceled at the L.A. airport, they are forced to spend Christmas with all four of their families, at the four different households of each of their parents. From that point on the film moves into a formulaic story that jumps from far-fetched disaster to disaster and from one strange relative to the next. As Brad and Kate learn more about each other they come to realize that their relationship can never be what it was and they must decide whether these experiences will draw them closer or tear them apart.

Teachable Moments: The teachable moments here are few and far between. The one main thread that is seen throughout the movie and is brought to a head at the very end is the real value of traditional marriage. A few questions to ask:

- Is formalized marriage becoming obsolete?
- Do traditional marriages still work or should this practice be abandoned?
- What does God say about marriage?

Viewer Discretion: While the language is actually somewhat tame, there are plenty of sexual references in the dialogue. There are also too many scenes that revolve (quite literally) around toilet humor. There are only so many ways – especially in 82 minutes – that baby barf and urine jokes are funny and/or necessary. There is also a scene at Kate’s mother’s church that some will find offensive, as well as an implied sexual relationship between that pastor and Kate’s mother. The movie plays upon an exaggerated interpretation of Christians primarily for laughs, right alongside jokes aimed at the stereotypes of other groups.

General Appeal: There are a few "laugh out loud" moments that will probably remind you of a disaster from a Christmas in your past or a weird relative that you’re glad you only have to see once a year. Unfortunately, for every one of those moments, there is another one that just leaves you wondering "why?" Vince Vaughn fans will turn out for this one and will probably be pleased to find that he is the source of most of the funny bits in the film. He has that innate ability to have you laughing at one moment and sitting in shock with what he says or does in the very next scene. Reese Witherspoon also does a decent job with the script but there are a lot of big names (Robert Duvall, Jon Voight, Sissy Spacek, and Kristin Chenoweth) that seem to be terribly under-utilized.  

This is a film that started out with some real potential ... about $80 million dollars worth. It had the potential to be really funny, the potential to communicate a positive yet realistic message that marriage isn’t perfect but is worth the sacrifice and compromise of the individuals and the potential for all of us to walk away with that warm fuzzy feeling that Christmas movies are supposed to give us. Unfortunately, most people will walk out of the theater and never think about the movie again.

The Final Grade: Entertainment value - C    Ministry value - F