Have always had a thing for good concepts, which has often been one of my main reasons for seeing any film or episode of a show. The concept for 'Four Christmases and a Wedding' sounded very appealing and on paper sounded different from the usual Christmas film in recent years, when we have had Lifetime and even more so Hallmark films that have followed the same or similar formulas with not much variation. It was my main reason for seeing this film.
While the concept for 'Four Christmases and a Wedding' was far from squandered, the film also could have done a good deal more with it. Conceptually 'Four Christmases and a Wedding' sounded different, but it was executed in a quite conventional manner in the film which is a shame. Have always adored Christmas and 'Four Christmases and a Wedding' has moments where it captures the spirit of the holiday quite well, when one is not frustrated by the sloppiness of the writing.
'Four Christmases and a Wedding' has good things. It looks quite good, especially the scenery. There are moments of nostalgia and authenticity in the soundtrack. Corey Sevier is a likeable male lead, while Judge Reinhold and Markie Post are treats in their roles. The younger cast members are not too cute or too bratty.
There are moments where 'Four Christmases and a Wedding' is charming and shows signs of heart. The Christmas spirit is there in parts.
Sadly, in my view, Arielle Kebbel tries too hard and her acting comes over as forced. She is very beautiful, but she didn't need to try that hard and didn't always seem comfortable. Didn't like her character of Chloe, at all either. Her obsessiveness was way overdone, one of my bugbears in film is character flaws being exaggerated and that's the case here, to the extent that it became annoying and borderline creepy. The characters are not developed that well and come over as sketchy cliches, while the central relationship is far too rushed and didn't feel that developed. Basically a big just there plot device with no conflict or much spark.
Much of the music is over-scored and could have been used a good deal less. The script doesn't flow that well and is very cheesy and sappy. It's the story and pacing that most let 'Four Christmases and a Wedding' down. The pace does drag a lot and the story, on top of being excessively predictable, over-sentimental and contrived, came over as mostly bland and badly over-stretched from too much overlong padding trying to hide how little plot there is.
Concluding, very, very average. 5/10
