What Do The Critics Say?

"Letting the hulking Vince Vaughn near a Christmas movie is just like giving a knife to your crazy drunken uncle during a seasonal family gathering: it's reckless, pointless and ultimately foolish in concept. Tediously thrown together like some cheap Christmas pageant." Frank Ochieng MOVIE EYE "Despite a horrible trailer that seems designed to keep people away, this is an entertaining movie with good performances by Vaughn and Witherspoon." Tony Medley TULUCAN TIMES "Even with the cliché and rushed ending, the flick survives on its clever dialogue that made me laugh out loud a dozen times." Kevin McCarthy CBS RADIO "Average family comedy that's saved by likeable performances from Vaughn and Witherspoon, though it bungles its emotional finale and feels a little flat as a result." Matthew Turner VIEW LONDON "While there are some hysterical sequences and plenty of astute family observations, this film is too fragmented to ever come together. Although terrific actors and some serious subtext make it enjoyable. The film feels like it's been badly tinkered with in the editing room." Rich Cline SHADOWS ON THE WALL

"A top cast just manages to keep Four Holidays afloat but the script offers too few laughs, and slapstick turns to schmaltz before we've had enough Christmas Cheer. Never mind that the ending is contrived, Four Holidays lacks fun and more importantly, has no heart." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE "Filled with 'hilarious' scenes of people being vomited on and falling off roofs, Four Holidays tries to meld nasty, black-hued comedy with warm sentiment, resulting in a sick melange of treacle and malice. Mean spirited, unfunny and consistently annoying." Erin Free FILMINK "It's passable entertainment with just enough good laughs to make it worthwhile." Steve Rhodes INTERNET REVIEWS "Holidays are about one thing and one thing only: family values. Four Christmases is a fun and fascinating: if ultimately featherweight, comedy not only for the whole family, but for every kind of them." Todd Gilchrist IGN MOVIES "Vaughn does his usual motormouthed ad-lib routine, and he's doing it pretty well this time, or at least better than he did it in "Fred Claus". Vaughn and Witherspoon are clearly having a lot of fun snapping each other's synapses, and their sense of play gives the whole easygoing, formulaic enterprise a welcome jolt. It's pleasantly funny, and occasionally laugh out loud funny, from start to finish." Mike Russell OREGONIAN

The Inside Story "This is a movie about the universal theme of the holidays: anxiety," says director Seth Gordon. He observes that "holidays, home and family have a way of bringing us back to our roots and exposing our vulnerabilities like nothing else. Which, of course, is fertile ground for comedy." More specifically, he adds, that this film "is about the ongoing struggle we all face, between who we are versus who we were raised to be and, ultimately, who we need to become. That’s why going home can be so difficult. The minute you walk in that door you’re confronted by images of who you used to be: or how your parents and siblings still see you—and maybe that’s not who you are anymore. It’s instant discomfort." The only thing worse than having to suffer such a humbling and embarrassing experience would be having to do it in the company of your significant other, that one person above all others in the world you want to think you’re cool. Or, at least, normal. Or, at the very least, not genetically compromised by that socially dysfunctional hive you call family. Jonathan Glickman ("Connie and Carla"), who, along with Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barber, produced the film, explained, "Brad and Kate feel that discomfort to the extreme, because they’re seeing their histories for the first time through each other’s eyes. For three years, they’ve been relating as sophisticated, attractive, confident people. In the course of this one day they see the worst of each other, everything they’ve been trying to hide and protect themselves from. It all comes out." "The truth is, no matter how much you think you know a person, you can always learn more by watching them interact with family and seeing their childhoods revealed. Parents and siblings really know how to push those buttons," says 2006 MTV Movie Award winner Vince Vaughn ("Wedding Crashers"), who stars as Brad. Reese Witherspoon, who stars as Kate, notes: "The truth is, people tend to evaluate their own relationships in comparison to that of their parents, and that can be a daunting prospect in many ways." "That’s precisely why Brad and Kate have been deftly sidestepping the show-and-tell," notes Vaughn. "They really love each other and don’t want to ruin it. As the story progresses, you realize how they’ve been hurt by their childhoods and the demise of their parent's marriages. They see the stresses and obligations of family life but none of its joy. So they reinvent themselves as independent adults and stay away to avoid making the mistakes their parents made and so have a happier life." It’s a plan that has been working fairly well, until their Christmas escape to Fiji gets cancelled and they are suddenly forced to deal with everything…together: all at once. "When Brad and Kate get caught at the airport and roped into a round of family visits, it results in some uncomfortable, long overdue and very funny moments, as they begin to discover some not-so-flattering aspects of each others pasts. The story then becomes not only about whether or not their relationship will survive long-term in the light of all this honesty, but whether it will survive the day," says executive producer Peter Billingsley ("The Break-up" & "Iron Man") who turns in a cameo as an airline ticket agent facing the couple’s frustration when their holiday plans implode. Appropriately enough, production on "“Four Holidays" began in early December, then took a break for the holidays, allowing cast and crew their own private celebrations with loved ones. Naturally, the themes of the movie followed them home. For most, it provided additional comic ammunition for their return to the set. "During the hiatus, I was reminded why this story is so universal. It was tense at home: my sister was annoyed with me, there was this whole thing about who was picking up Grandma for dinner, and I thought, 'This is what makes Christmas funny.' So many details rang true from the movie and made me feel the way I did when I laughed out loud reading the script for the first time. This movie takes all those family dynamics everyone relates to, and just pushes them out a lot farther," recalls Gordon, who earned widespread acclaim, including a nomination from the Chicago Film Critics Association, for his 2007 documentary "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters", which chronicled an intense rivalry between two men for a video game championship. Offering both humorous and poignant insights, it captured the attention of not only the films producers but also Vince Vaughn, who says his thought was, "this guy is really fresh and funny and thinks outside the box." "Everyone brought their neuroses to the table," notes producer and President of Spyglass Entertanment Jonathan Glickman ("Shanghai Noon", "The Lookout" & "Rush Hour 2 & 3"). "Whether it was the director, the screenwriters, the actors: everyone has experienced some version of this. We can all relate, no matter how we feel about our individual families, and we all have stories. There are some of Vince’s own experiences in here, some of Reese’s: it’s a mix of everyone’s ideas. As a documentarian, Seth commits to an essential structure but he’s willing to let things unfold and, for this kind of movie and this kind of cast, that’s exactly what we needed." Supporting Vaughn and Oscar ® winning actress Reece Witherspoon ("Walk The Line") in the film, is an outstanding ensemble of acclaimed artists whose careers encompass, collectively, the stage, screen, television and music industry. Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek portray Brad’s long-divorced parents Howard and Paula, whose lives since their split have grown so far apart it’s hard to believe they still share the same language. Mary Steenburgen and Jon Voight star as Kate's equally incompatible parents, Marilyn and Creighton. Dwight Yoakam stars as Pastor Phil, Marilyn’s latest in a series of boyfriends for whom she transforms her life. Jon Favreau and Tim McGraw gang up on Brad as his big brothers Denver and Dallas, and Kristin Chenoweth, as Courtney, puts Kate in her place with a dose of sibling rivalry, sister-style. "These are some of the best actors of their generation, of any generation: and their commitment took everything to a higher level. I would have felt lucky to have worked with any one of them," Gordon notes. Throughout production, collaboration most often took the form of improv, with Vaughn setting the pace for the ensemble cast as they explored the comic potential of key scenes and generated new punch lines. "Vince is a force of nature," mother of two Witherspoon (Ava Elizabeth and Deacon) attests. "You just let him do his thing and hope you can react around him. He’s extraordinarily good at being funny but it’s not all for laughs; he never loses sight of where the character is going and the level of emotion involved. Sometimes we’d feel that we really pinned down a scene and then someone would think of another angle and we’d go back and add more, kind of layering things on top of each other and seeing what works. It was great to see people so inspired and excited about a project." Brad and Kate start their festivities with a bang (and a crash) at Brad’s childhood home. His father Howard, a bachelor since Brad’s mother bailed out some 20 years ago, is played by 1984 Oscar ® winning actor Robert Duvall ("Tender Mercies"). "With no female interference there’s no modulating his behavior and Howard is a wild man. It’s like a house of wolves," says Glickman ("Rush Hour"). Howard’s not a bad guy, Duvall says, "just the kind of a guy who prefers life to the beat of his own drum. It’s a crazy dysfunctional existence and we certainly heightened that aspect of it but, the truth is, no matter what you can concoct in your imagination, you know that circumstance exists in some form somewhere. I’m not pointing any fingers, but you can bet there are families like this." 1981 Oscar ® winning actress Mary Steenburgen ("Melvin and Howard") plays Kate's mother Marilyn. "She has had a lot of boyfriends. Marilyn is always looking for true love, and even though it eludes her, she remains hopeful that the next man will be the one. With every new boyfriend, she adapts herself and her life completely to his tastes and interests, so that Kate never knows who or what she’s going to find when she comes home," Steenburgen offers. Kate sister Courtney, is played by Kristin Chenoweth. "We’re both Southern, small and blonde, so we already look like family," Witherspoon notes. "It was a thrill to work with Kristin and create the kind of sibling relationship where we get to tear each other’s hair out a little but still make it clear that there’s a deep and loving bond at its core." Brad's mother Paula is played by 1981 Oscar ® winning actress, Sissy Spacek ("Coal Miner's Daughter") who says taking the role was "a rare opportunity to cut loose in a fast-paced comedy," likening the experience to "catching a moving train and trying to stay out from under the wheels." By the time they reach their fourth and final destination, the Lake Tahoe retreat of Kate’s father Creighton, played by 1979 Oscar ® winning actor Jon Voight ("Coming Home"), the happy couple have made some tough decisions. Voight, who first worked with Reese Witherspoon on the 1993 Western drama "Return to Lonesome Dove", suggests: "It’s a simple scene but it’s heartfelt in a way that, I believe, many people will find true. Creighton tries to explain some of the mistakes he made in his life and as a father, and it gives Kate a lot to think about." "Creighton was one of the toughest characters to figure out," says Gordon. "Jon has such gravity," Witherspoon states. "He’s a very thoughtful and sincere actor. He brought so much to his scenes in which he tries to make amends for the way he let her down. It was a beautiful performance and we were all moved." Glickman revealed it was Vaughn who "suggested Jon from the get-go as someone who could handle the interaction emotionally without making it heavy, to give it meaning and drama but have some sweetness to it, that fit the tone of the film overall." Production of "Four Holidays" began on December 4th 2007, when everyone was already in a holiday frame of mind. Production Designer Shepherd Frankel Frankel, who holds a masters degree in architecture from UCLA, says director Gordon, "understands floor plans, models and the use of space. I loved working with him." The film was shot on location in and around San Francisco, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf, Union Square, the Embarcadero, Chinatown and the San Francisco International Airport. For the opening airport scene, the team used an existing terminal (part of which was being remodeled) and filled it with five hundred extras. "All we had to do was put up our own signage," says Gordon. Synopsis

No one enjoys the holidays more than Brad and Kate. Every December 25th, this happily unmarried, upscale San Francisco couple embark on a holiday tradition they have shared every year since they met—ditching their crazy families for a relaxing, fun-filled vacation in some sunny exotic locale. There, sipping margaritas by the pool, they toast the season, knowing they have once again avoided the chaos and emotional fallout of their four respective households: divorced parents, squabbling siblings, out-of-control kids and all the simmering resentments and awkward moments that are the hallmarks of every family Christmas. But not this year. The happy couple are trapped at the San Francisco airport by a fogbank. Worse yet, they are caught on camera by a local news crew, revealing their whereabouts to the whole city: and to their families. With no escape and no excuses, they are now expected home by Brad’s father, Kate’s mother, Brad's mother and Kate's father. One couple. Four families. A nightmare!

The Verdict "If you're a big fan of over bearing, motor-mouth Vince Vaughn, you'll no doubt find this a satisfying experience. Touted as Hollywoods leading comedy actor, Vaughn's persona towers over the other cast members in the rebadged (for Australian audiences) comedy "Four Holidays". His co-star is the sweet, diminutive, highly talented Oscar ® winner, Reese Witherspoon. The film boasts five Academy Award ® winners: Best Actors Jon Voigt and Robert Duvall; Best Actress Sissy Spacek and Reese Witherspoon, and Best Supporting Actress Mary Steenburgen. The supporting cast includes Vaughn's longtime buddy Jon Favreau (the two appeared together in "Rudy", "Swingers", "The Replacements", "Made" and "The Break-up"); Grammy Award winning Country singers Dwight Yoakam and Tim McGraw; and Kristin Chenoweth, who appeared with Danny DeVito in the 2006 'christmas' film, "Deck the Halls". The popularity of both Vaughn and Witherspoon, should be enough to ensure "Four Holidays" does well at the box-office. The 'reunions' provide plenty of laughs. Some in the audience, may experience flash-backs of not so happy christmas experiences. Thankfully, "Four Holidays" is a better offering than Vaughns last christmas flick, "Fred Claus". 3 1/2 STARS." Crew Bytes "FOUR HOLIDAYS" was .......
directed by Seth Gordon ["Squirt" and "Fears Of A Clown"]; set decoration by Jan Pascale ["Training Day", "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Syriana"]; costume design by Sophie Carbonell ["Legally Blonde", "Sweet Home Alabama", "Legally Blonde 2", "Shall We Dance" and "In Her Shoes"]; production design by Shepherd Frankel ["Step Up", "P.S I Love You" and "27 Dresses"]; casting by Seth Yanklewitz ["Norbit", "Blades of Glory" and "Meet Dave"]; cinematography by Jeffrey L Kimball ["Beverly Hills Cop II", "Mission: Impossible II" and "Bonneville"]; original music by BMI Film Music Award winner Alex Wurman ["Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" and "La Marche de l'empereur"]. Who's Who

Vince Vaughn Reese Witherspoon Robert Duvall Sissy Spacek Jon Voight Jon Favreau Mary Steenburgen Dwight Yoakam Tim McGraw Kristin Chenoweth Katy Mixon Colleen Camp Jeanette Miller Jack Donner Steve Wiebe Zak Boggan Skyler Gisondo True Bella Patrick Van Horn Marissa Benekos Cedric Yarbrough Brian Baumgartner Peter Billingsley Stephanie Venditto Noah Munck Matthew Johnson Bubba Dean Rambo Quinn Vanantwerp Laura Johnson Haley Hallak

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Brad Kate Howard Paula Creighton Denver Marilyn Pastor Phil Dallas Courtney Susan Aunt Donna Gram-Gram Grandpa Jim Cody Connor Kasi Darryl News Reporter Stan Eric Ticket Agent Angel Screaming Kid #1 Screaming Kid #2 Elder Baritone Singer Glee Club Alto Singer Cheryl Baby Clementine

Run Time 88 minutes Rated M [AUST] Copyright ©2008 - New Line Cinema - All Rights Reserved ©2008 All Rights Reserved - The Movie Pages & Impact Internet Services - Protected by Australian, International, Copyright & Trademark Laws.