One thing’s for sure: Vince Vaughn is no Scrooge. The increasingly doughy star must love Christmas. He hasn’t graced a film since this time last year in the ridiculous Fred Claus. Now he’s back in Four Christmases, a holiday offering that is the cinematic equivalent of candy cane. They have no nutritional value whatsoever, and you certainly wouldn’t want to make them a regular part of your diet, but they sure do taste good every now and then.

Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon) couldn’t be happier. The upscale San Francisco couple love their untethered lives. They see a marriage commitment as prison, children as relationship poison and spending any amount of time with their families as hell on earth. Which is why, each Christmas, they make up stories about going to help the less fortunate in obscure third world countries when what they are really doing is lounging on the beach in the Caribbean. But this Christmas is going to be different.

When their families see them on the news, stuck at the airport on Christmas Day due to inclement weather, Brad and Kate have no choice but to confess to their yearly ruse and join their not so loved ones. There’s just one catch. Both Brad and Kate’s parents have long been divorced, compelling the reluctant couple to a marathon four house trek. Surrounded by their parents, stepparents, siblings and an assortment of nieces and nephews, Brad and Kate come face to face with their unresolved childhood wounds and the importance of family.

Four Christmases is the first narrative feature film by Seth Gordon, the director of the highly acclaimed documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. Gordon is playing it safe with this debut, making a slight, harmless film that relies on broad humor and physical slapstick to guarantee laughs. What is perhaps most surprising is how much mileage Gordon gets out of formulaic, clichéd jokes. We know the baby is going to throw up all over Kate (even if we haven’t seen the trailer), yet for some reason it still makes you laugh till your sides hurt.

Several factors contribute to the film’s success. First, the cast. Both leads put everything they have into their roles. Witherspoon is a lovely straight man to Vaughn’s zany, motor mouth, cut-up personality. The supporting cast of colorful eccentric in-laws is represented by a virtual who’s who of the deans of Hollywood including Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Jon Voight and Mary Steenburgen. Country singer Tim McGraw and Ironman director Jon Favreau drop by as Brad’s bullying brothers.

Second, what makes Four Christmases work is that it will feel like an autobiographical piece to so many viewers. We may not get tortured as Brad does or forced to endure as much humiliation as Kate must, but running the gauntlet from house to house to house during the holidays is something with which many of us are all too familiar.

Four Christmases goes by very quickly while you’re watching it, and your memory of it will probably be just as fleeting. It certainly won’t be your favorite present under the tree this Christmas, but it should provide just the diversion you’re looking for.

© Copyright 2008 Brandon Fibbs. All rights reserved.