Four Christmases

Dir. Seth Gordon

PG-13. 86 min.

By Michael Harthorne

"Four Christmases" tells the story of Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon), an insanely compatible couple whose plans to escape to Fiji for Christmas are thwarted by bad weather, forcing them to visit four families (both their parents are divorced) in one day.

The problem with the film is that it is so lazily put together in terms of plot, humor and emotions that I was ready to call it quits after one Christmas with three still left in the film's mercifully short runtime.

The plot and characters of "Four Christmases" are borrowed from other, better comedies of the recent past.

Brad and Kate's experiences at the various houses-of-horror of their families exist as ratcheted up and dumber versions of the gauntlet Ben Stiller's character runs in "Meet the Parents." Mary Steenburgen as Kate's mother plays the same horny mother as Jane Seymour in "Wedding Crashers." And, Kate's dirty, inappropriate grandmother is the same character that has been tossed on screen for laughs since the "Golden Girls."

Those characters and situations can be funny, but they aren't here and they've been done before.

Vaughn himself serves as a perfect example of this. He has played nearly the same character in a host of recent comedies, from "Old School" to "The Breakup" to the aforementioned "Wedding Crashers." His routine can usually be counted on for laughs, but either due to weak material or because his bit has finally worn out its welcome, it doesn't work this time.

For a comedy to succeed, it has to offer something new or at least perform the rehashed material better than previous films. Jokes in "Four Christmases" about a white trash family loving Cheese Whiz and mispronouncing "hors d'