Four Christmases (2008)

Tags

Comedy, Four Christmases, Jon Favreau, Kristin Chenoweth, Movie, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Vince Vaughn

excuse me, sir! could you tell us about your hat choice please!?

PG-13

Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Kristin Chenoweth, Jon Favreau

Eric: You lie to your families at Christmas time?
Brad: Well, you really can’t spell families without “lies”…try it.

A couple wants to go to Fiji for Christmas instead of having to spend it with their families, but heavy fog delays their flight and forces them to attend celebrations at four different houses.

This is a fairly standard Christmas comedy with two relatively normal central characters surrounded by their eccentric family members.  Fortunately it manages to be somewhat funny at times, and it doesn’t have everything work out perfectly for all the families in the end either.  At least one character doesn’t really learn anything about family and kindness.  He’s bitter till the end.  Not exactly the Christmas spirit, but there’s plenty more movies out there to watch if you want that.

Not that there isn’t a message about family and blah blah blah.  There is.  It’s just usually accompanied by a less serious conversation.  Like when Brad (Vaughn) and Kate (Witherspoon) discuss the positives of having children, which includes all the free labor you get from them.

I’ll admit that I actually like Vince Vaughn most of the time, and he’s alright here.  His rapid, random talking thing works sometimes and doesn’t work other times.  He’s likable though, and he and Witherspoon are good together.

My least favorite part of the movie is the first of the four Christmases.  It occurs at Brad’s father’s house, and it involves a lot of yelling, slapstick comedy, a crying baby, and general destruction.  Once that segment was done, the movie became more watchable.

I guess that’s the level of praise I’ll give it.  It’s watchable.  You can have it on in the background and get a few laughs here and there and maybe a smidgen of Christmas spirit.  But if you want a funnier movie about people dealing with crazy relatives, just watch Christmas Vacation.

Sometimes it’s okay to avoid your family around the holidays.

10 – 2 for that whole first Christmas segment – 2.1 for not being consistently funny enough = 5.9

Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)

Tags

Animated, Comedy, Hugh Laurie, Kiefer Sutherland, Monsters vs. Aliens, Movie, Rainn Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Science Fiction, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett

yer gonna need a bigger church...

PG

Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson

Susan: Did you see how strong I was!?  There’s probably not a jar in this world I can’t open!

On her wedding day, Susan (Witherspoon) is hit by a meteorite which causes her to grow into a giant.  She is captured by the government and imprisoned along with 4 other monsters that have been caught.  When a humongous alien robot shows up looking for the very substance that turned Susan into a giant, she and the other monsters are called upon to help destroy it.

While this movie may not be as witty or enthralling as most of the Pixar movies, I still enjoyed it for its visuals and original idea.  In fact, the idea is so good, I think that any disappointment I felt was because I think an even better movie could have been made.  It probably could have been a little more imaginative, especially when it comes to the Aliens.  The alien leader is kind of dull, and the giant robot he sends initially doesn’t have much personality either.

The monsters are pretty good, though.  Seth Rogen was particularly funny as B.O.B., the amorphous blob of goo who constantly demonstrates that he has no brain.  I think his voice was much more suited for this character than it was for his character in Kung Fu Panda.

What was with the human faces, though?  I thought the proportions and expressions were borderline creepy at times.  Actually, I’m quite certain they were.  Especially early on, at the wedding.

As I mentioned, it might be funny at times, but it’s not a hilarious movie.  This adds to it feeling a little overlong (even though it’s only 94 minutes in length), especially in the second half.  But at least their are those nice visuals to take in.  I especially enjoyed the view as the military helicopters approached the giant alien robot.  Cool stuff.

Overall, this won’t be topping my list of favorite computer animated movies, or even cracking the top 5, but it’s an enjoyable ride while it lasts.  Just don’t count on it being one you’ll want to get back in line for after it’s over.

Brains are overrated.

10 – 1.2 for lacking some in the funny department – 1 for dragging a bit in the second half – .4 for the aliens being kinda dull = 7.4