Four Holidays

The Age

Friday December 5, 2008

Jim Schembri

Four Holidays

3/5 (88 mins) M

MOTOR-MOUTHED, over-sized Vince Vaughn (Fred Claus) and diminutive, Oscar-winning Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) generate an appreciable amount of comic spark for this quick, enjoyably disposable Christmas comedy time-killer.

Each year the happily unmarried, happily childless couple lie to their divorced parents about being out of town for charity work so they can go off on exotic holidays and avoid the hassles of family.

However, a fogged-in airport, cancelled flights and an appearance on live TV, forces them to do the rounds.

Each domicile is, naturally, populated by eccentrics, the best being Vaughn's uber-macho brother (Jon Favreau) and crusty dad (Robert Duvall).

There are the requisite pratfalls (Witherspoon at war with a little girl in a jumping castle) and physical gags (Vaughn falls off a roof, a baby vomits over Witherspoon), all of which serve to instil in the pair the overwhelming desire to abandon their hedonism and pursue parenthood.

The impressive cast includes Sissy Spacek, Jon Voight, Mary Steenburgen and country music veteran Dwight Yoakam as a crowd-pleasing pastor.

© 2008 The Age

Back to News Index | Back to Home