New Line Cinema, Spyglass Entertainment, Wild West Picture Show Productions

Reese Witherspoon, Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Robert Duvall, Kristin Chenoweth, Mary Steenburgen, Dwight Yoakam, Sissy Spacek, Brian Baumgartner, Carol Kane, Tim McGraw

Kate (Reese Witherspoon) and Brad (Vince Vaughh) have been shacking up for 3 years. They both love the simple lifestyle where they can pick up and go anywhere anytime. There’s no plans for children or settling down. Every Christmas they lie about doing charity work somewhere while they travel to Fiji or Bali on vacation to avoid the family chaos at Christmas. This year, they have made their apologies to the families, but fog in the bay area cancelled their flight, and they ended up on a TV news broadcast so the family knew they were not traveling. That means Four separate Christmas visits to 4 separate families (both parents are divorced). These families are all a huge mess, and the day ends up just about destroying their 3 year relationship with the comedy of screw ups occur one after another.

This is a really funny film. The deadpan Vince Vaughn guy matched against Reese Witherspoon’s helpless Lucille Ball like comedy makes them a perfect couple. Then with the all stars that play the family with the likes of Sissy Spacekl, Robert Duvall, Mary Steenburgen, Kristin Chenowith, et. al. makes for a hysterical day. But in the end we get to see the tender moments when the unhappy couple have to determine whether their lives are going anywhere or not. There is a lot of verbal company. Everyone is a character, that’s for sure. There’s also a lot of slapstick (Vince vaughn falling off the roof in slow motion and destroying the house!) as well. But it also has a tender side. All in all, it’s a very funny film, and an excellent look at a disastrous Christmas. I enjoyed it when it came out, and enjoyed it just as much in a re-watch on TBS this season. I highly recommend it as a funny Christmas family adventure!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Ten Ten Films, Cabin 14, Farnam Street II

Jeremy Sisto, Kristin Chenoweth, Brian Baumgartner, Bruce A. Young, Amy Matthews, Tony Papenfuss, Greta Oglesby, Ansa Akyea, Isabell Monk, Patrick Coyle

A priest (Jeremy Sisto) who is beginning to doubt he is making any difference is waiting in the confessional when prostitute Linda (Kristin Chenoweth) shows up to ask for forgiveness in advance for a sin she is about to commit. She is planning to kill herself on her next birthday. When he tries to find her, he finds she has vanished, and he set out to find her and stop her at all costs. As he searches for her, he finds himself drawn into the underworld side of the city. While he’s sesarching strip clubs and brothels, he faces the doubts of his congregation and his superiors including his mentor Fr. Ralph O’Brien (Brian Bumgartner).

This film is a work of art, and a very interesting little film. It’s available via NetFlix Watch Instantly, and can be seen often on Cable from time to time. It’s dark as it’s about despair and desperation, attempted suicide and all sort of sins. But the good side of things is shown as well. There is a back story that the beginning of the films alludes to, and the reason Linda chooses this priest is based on something that happened a long time before. Likewise, this film isn’t wrapped up in a neat little bow, telling us what to think. There are clues as to how it ended, but anyone can interpret those clues in anyway they wish. We’re not really told how it all played out.

The characters are very well developed. Jeremy Sisto is wonderful as a priest in crisis, and Kristin Chenoweth is sometime pretty flaky, but is really good in this role. She pulled it off very well. It’s not as dark as it could have been, and it is a very well put together story. In the end, you are sad, but also hopeful. I found it a fascinating and very interesting movie and I enjoyed it a lot. It was very far under my radar, and I was riveted on the screen throughout. I recommend this film if you’re not offended by a stark look at the underbelly of life in the city. It was pretty good.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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