When upscale, happily unmarried San Francisco couple Kate and Brad find themselves socked in by fog on Christmas morning, their exotic vacation plans morph into the family-centric holiday they had, until now, gleefully avoided. Out of obligation - and unable to escape - they trudge to not one, not two, but four relative-choked festivities, increasingly mortified to find childhood fears raised, adolescent wounds reopened... and their very future together uncertain. As Brad counts the hours to when he can get away from their parents, step-parents, siblings and an assortment of nieces and nephews, Kate is starting to hear the ticking of a different kind of clock. And by the end of the day, she is beginning to wonder if their crazy families' choices are not so crazy after all.

(Source: Warner Brothers)

 

By now those of you reading my blog would have known the acidity in my cadence of speech and I am a person who will not hesitate to cut, with words. Consider yourself forewarned, if you should choose to go on reading this post.

I will not deny the fact that I awaited gingerly for this movie, one of the movies I had in my list to watch before 2008 ended. To my utter dismay, it was scheduled to be released in Malaysia only on January the 1st, 2009.

So, I decided to catch the movie today and I emerged from the cinema, dissatisfied, wishing that I had not fork out that much money (It was only a meagre 6bucks, I know...). It was that bad.

I'll elaborate the reasons in just a second.

I do not in particular enjoy much of Vince Vaughn's acting, although he may be the best straight man in comedy films today. The movie was blatantly formulaic and the plot was uneventful, so much so that within the first 5mins of each sub-story, I can predict, with accurate precision, what will happen. The lines were dry and jokes made pretty much fell flat on the ground. There were no subtle, quick-witted response from Vaughn and Witherspoon (Both who are highly established actors in the comedy genre).

I mean, between a condescending dad, siblings who take physical games to a whole new level and a flirty mum as well as her relatives, it was an unimpressive setup although there was an excellent cast at hand. Darn shame they were not fully utilised and could not display their array of talents. The camera however continues to love Reese Witherspoon (she is adorable as always) but I didn’t see any charm in her character. As for rest of the cast, all I can say is some of them should be ashamed for showing their faces and taking a paycheck.

(Again, that question was rhetorical.)

Despite the obvious lack of romantic connection between the two, Vaughn still manages to squeak out some laughs with his rapid verbal jousting. I managed a laugh or two, but I did not double up in laughter as I did, in Wedding Crashers and Legally Blonde.

Pity... Needless to say, I am deeply disappointed.

Rating: 1.5/5