Rumours of an on-set feud between lead stars Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn hardly echo the tidings of comfort and joy espoused by Seth Gordon's romantic comedy.
Watch film trailers now »"We've just got to get through these four Christmases as quickly and painlessly as possible," grimaces Witherspoon's plucky heroine as she stares down the barrel of back-to-back celebrations with her divorced parents and the in-laws.
By the end of the first act, we realise that director Gordon and his four screenwriters have no intention of granting her (and us) that wish. Instead, the blissfully happy couple suffer a series of outrageous mishaps, which test their relationship to breaking point, including a trawl through the childhood photograph albums, a bruising tug-of-war with a satellite dish and a rumble in a bouncy castle.
Witherspoon and Vaughn plaster on their fake smiles but don't convince as a blissfully happy couple. When the cracks appear, there's almost a sense of relief that these two mismatched souls will go their separate ways. Of course, the screenwriters have other ideas, determined that this dull, festive ding-dong ends merrily on a high, replete with a mawkish coda.
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