What was I thinking?! Almost one year ago exactly I gave Four Christmases a “C+” review and after 15 minutes I wanted to toss my Blu-ray player out of the window as I tried to watch this one a second time. Granted a “C+” isn’t exactly a great grade, but it does imply this is an above average effort and that’s an opinion I can’t continue with.
I ended my theatrical review saying:
This flick won’t become a holiday classic, but I am sure it will entertain those that go see it. At a meager 82 minutes it doesn’t demand a lot of your time and in the early moments it offers some hearty laughs.
The only “hearty laugh” comes after Reese Witherspoon is vomited on and Vince Vaughn responds with a highly comical reaction, but at this point we are talking about sight gags and not legitimate comedy. Admittedly the 82 minute running time is a blessing, but I would never suggest someone endure this more than once.
The features offered on this Blu-ray release are also just as mind-numbing including a making-of featurette that actually believes we would ever be interested in learning how they built a Jump-Jump so it could be filmed or how they made a house just to destroy a TV. Here’s a big spoiler from that second revelation… They had a scaffold! The fact they even try to pass this off as interesting is an insult to the viewer and scaffolds everywhere.
A “Four Christmases: Holiday Moments” featurette is boring just as are the deleted scenes and a batch of outtakes.
Regular readers know I stress the importance on seeing films more than once to further establish your opinion and understanding of a movie. This works for both art house films and dumb studio comedies as evidenced here. I obviously got something out of Four Christmases the first time around, but a second viewing has set me straight. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t say this film isn’t worth a possible rental, but anything more than that is a waste of time and money at this point.
