Review of The Anywhere But Home (English)
March 27, 2009 by FSJ
The ultimate purpose of a couple living together is to have kids and, hopefully, a family life filled with bliss. But if you hail from a broken family and a household of unruly brats, like Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon) in New Line Cinema’s Anywhere But Home (A), there’s a chance that you may have some fears about making a commitment.
They have been living together for three years, but have a mutual agreement against marriage and procreation. For the Christmas holidays, every year, they lie to their respective parents about their whereabouts.
But this time, they aren’t so lucky. It’s foggy, and all the flights have been cancelled. On top of this, a journalist catches their reactions on live TV. Within moments, their cell phones are buzzing. Their families have seen them on air, and invite them home. They have no escape.
Thus, on the eve of Christmas, they visit four different homes. And wish they hadn’t.
The two are natural in each other’s company. Even when they have a disagreement, they sound like a nice couple. Despite his massive built and macho looks, Vince Vaughn convincingly plays a frightened fellow in front of his family, and Reese Witherspoon, for all her toughness, fidgets uneasily while her family inter- acts with him.
As Kate’s father, Jon Voight plays a warm family man with a sad past. Robert Duvall, as Brad’s father, doesn’t quite pull off his comic lines very well; he sounds a bit staged at times.
There isn’t much to the story. And Matt Allen, Caleb Wilson, Jon Lucas and Scott Moore’s bland screenplay won’t make you merry.
You may wonder why it’s Christmas time throughout the film and there’re a lot of old Christmas songs. It’s because it’s a Christmas time film, originally titled Four Christmases. The present title was invented because, in real life, it’s Easter time.
Director Seth Gordon’s romcom has a little bit of romance and a lot of comedy, but there’s nothing to ring your family or write home about.
Released on 27-3-’09 at Inox (daily 2 shows) and 11 other cinemas of Bombay thru Warner Bros. Pictures (I) Pvt. Ltd. Publicity: average. Opening: dull.
Issue dated Mar 29 – Apr 4, 2009
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