Category: Four Christmases

FOUR CHRISTMASES

9/5/2018

Four Chaotic Christmases

SUMMARY + ABOUT

“A couple struggles to visit all four of their divorced parents on Christmas.” – IMDB.

The protagonists of Four Christmases are Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Jon Voight, Jon Favreau, and Mary Steenburgen.

The movie’s script was written by Matt Allen and Caleb Wilson, and Seth Gordon directed the film. It first aired in 2008 and was written by . It won the BMI Music Award.

REVIEW

This is one of my favorite Christmas movies—not just because it’s funny, because it has meaning. It means that even if you have gone through something difficult with the person you love, you will always stay by his/her side and keep loving him/her. It’s just a wonderful movie.

I’ve decided to analyze the script of Four Christmases, not just because it’s a good Christmas movie, but because I feel that the script needs to be analyzed, too. I’ve noticed that people don’t analyze movie scripts as much as I do, so that’s why I’m the one you can rely on!

The two scenes I’ve chosen so you guys can read the written version (which is, accurately enough, transcripted by me) are enjoyable and really, really, amusing. The first one is called the Mary and Joseph scene, while the second one is The Pee Stick scene.

But first, let’s start with our story!

Kate and Brad are our usual couple. They love each other, and weirdly enough, like faking names. For example, they “role-play” their so-called first meeting.

I was really confused at first. I mean, who wouldn’t?! But then we find out that they do that for fun… which is weird.

Then, they call their parents and make excuses about WHY they cannot be in Christmas at their place… because it’s just too awkward. Why? Because their parents are divorced. Brad’s parents are divorced, and his mother is dating his old best friend (ew, I know). Kate’s parents are divorced, and her mother is dating the Church’s Pastor.

It is a little weird for them. Scratch a little, it’s really weird for them to see their parents not being together anymore. I feel like even though they’re adults, they have an inner child inside.

And their relatives are actually really, really, weird.

Every year, they make excuses up, so they cannot make it to their family’s Christmas, and go to islands and stuff. For example, they have gone to Costa Rica and Hawaii, and on this occasion, they were going to Fiji.

But a fog ruined it all. None of the airlines wanted to go to Fiji, because the fog was too thick—and unfortunately, the national news was there to record it.

That meant that their parents and the rest of their families knew that they were going to be available to go to their Christmas.

When I first saw the movie, I thought it would be a total chaos. Meeting four families (FOUR), spending time with them, and then going to meet the other one can be pretty exhausting… scratch the can be. It is exhausting, even though I will never ever do it. Just by judging their expressions, we can clearly see they’re pretty tired AND in a grouchy mood right now. Which, by the way, is me every time I finish a good book with an unsatisfactory ending.

So, they first visit Brad’s dad, and disgustingly enough, his brothers are called Denver and Dallas. Much to my surprise, Brad’s actual name is Orlando. Why do him and his siblings carry such strange names? Well, they were named after the city in which they were conceived. Disgusting, I know.

I find Brad’s family amusing. They just have different, whacky, personalities, so it’s just to funny for me! For example, Denver’s wife makes “salad”. And it isn’t salad, it has potatoes, mayonnaise, then more potatoes, mayonnaise, and lettuce and cheese. Quite healthy, don’t you agree?

After more chaos with Brad’s family, they decide to drive to Kate’s mother’s house. They’re… super-duper religious. I mean, they even have the statue of the Virgin Mary outside the house! Oh wow.

Since we now know that Brad’s real name is Orlando, the screenwriters have decided that we need to know a Kate secret. And we do… she was called Cootie Kate when she was a little girl and was… fat.

So, now we know their embarrassing secrets that can potentially damage their relationship. Why? Because their estranged families caused it.

After Kate’s two embarrassing secrets, she goes to the bathroom and tries a pregnancy test, since she was a few days late and was curious. Unfortunately, enough, her niece mistakes it for a marker, and grabs it, causing Kate to chase her around the house, and to face her childhood fear.

She had to get on the jump-jump to find the pregnancy stick.

At the end she did, just because she told her niece (named Kasi) that she peed on it. That is one of the scenes you, my readers, will get to see! It’s so funny I laugh every time I see it.

After that, they go to the church, where Kate meets her mother’s newest boyfriend, Pastor Phil. And when he starts giving the mass, everyone claps and shouts like he’s a Rockstar about to do a concert. It was a very funny scene, indeed.

Then, the Pastor asks for two volunteers, so they can be Mary and Joseph. Kate’s mom says that Kate and Brad can do it, and Kate reveals to Brad that she has stage fright.

So, when it’s time for them to deliver their lines with Baby Jesus, Kate freaks out, and Brad takes over—making the scene undeniably funny. Kate was supposed to “swaddle” Baby Jesus, but Brad has the thing to actually swaddle the baby.

At the end, we know he just wanted the spotlight because he grabs the swaddle and swaddles Baby Jesus himself. Talk about a macho man, don’t you agree?

It was really embarrassing for her, so they leave almost immediately towards Brad’s mother’s house, in which it’s revealed that Brad’s old best friend is currently dating his mother. Talk about disgusting.

Brad’s brother and his wife also come, and since they’re all there, Brad’s mom decides to play a game of who knows each other best.

We find out Brad and Kate don’t know every single detail about each other.

So, Kate is supposedly mad at Brad, and Brad at Kate, because he finds out that Kate wants to have kids. And he’s terrified of the idea, too.
Kate decides to visit her dad, alone.

This was one of the most heartwarming scenes is when Brad realizes that he wants to spend the rest of his life with Kate—so they start discussing what their kids will do, and etc.

News flash, and it’s the next year. They have a baby girl, and as always, they didn’t even tell their families about it.

Since they have the worst luck ever, their baby girl is the first baby of the New Year. So, a news reporter enters the delivery room and asks, “How does it feel to be the parents of the first baby of the New Year?”

And the baby girl throws up.

So, their families now know exactly everything that happened.

Now, let’s go to the two scenes I chose! I think y’all will like them so much and laugh along with me! 😊

The first one, as I mentioned before, is one when Kate tells her niece that she peed on the “magic marker.” You can read it right here.

And the second one, is when the play as Mary and Joseph. You can read it here.

I hope y’all enjoyed this script review! And please watch the movie… it’s really funny!

I give this script a 7/10. Not because it is a bad movie, but because it doesn’t have a firm sequencing—the scenes don’t flow in a… flowy manner. They aren’t pieced together in a way that causes the viewer to ask, “My, has the movie flown by?” No, it didn’t flow by. We feel it has been four hours since we got to the movie theater, instead of ninety minutes.

The actors did transmit all of the emotions… but the script, when I read it, wasn’t exactly super-detailed on how they had to look and feel. I think that the cast had to improvise while acting, because I can clearly feel the sadness, the stress, the embarrassment while watching the movie, but while I read the script… I feel none.

The script itself had potential, and most of the actors were Oscar winners or super-recognized. This movie was supposed to be great, but the script wasn’t written in a way that showed all of the potential it had. That is one of the reasons I don’t think this script deserves an 8/10.

I also sometimes wonder… what if Kate’s mom was best friends with Brad’s dad? Or what if they dated? And what if Kate’s dad was dating Brad’s mom or they are close friends? All of them would be connected in some way. I feel that if there was only one, big, chaotic rendezvous, then the movie would’ve been better.

Anyways, I think that this is a nice movie to prepare yourself for the holidays… and that means Halloween, Thanksgiving, and much more! Just remember that when watching this movie, you must know that you’ll be seated in there for a really long time.

I hope y’all enjoyed this script review! And please watch the movie… it’s really funny!

Here are the official trailer and some bloopers!

Until next month, my readers!

©2018
Pink Smoothie!

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Any pictures/gifs do not belong to me, otherwise stated.