Four Christmases

Sigh. Another potentially funny Hollywood comedy hits the skids when it encounters a message. The message here seems to be, "Families Are Hideous And Awful, But Everyone Should Be Forced To Have One". No, I don't understand the logic of that either.

The families are made up of 4 sets of familiar comedy archetypes - the yokels, the interfering women, the religious kooks and - um - the fourth set who the writers couldn't be bothered to make interesting or unusual. I suppose you can't blame them for losing interest - I know I had.

Phoned-in performances and a faxed-in script result in a charmless, pointless holiday film. The only good thing about it is the charisma of the leads, and a funny appearance by Jon Favreau. But seriously, you would be better advised to watch National Lampoon's Xmas Vacation again instead.