When they first announced the idea for the Reese Witherspoon-Vince Vaughn vehicle Four Christmases, it sounded like a no-fail holiday comedy with two huge stars. Now one of those stars is associated with the most profitable holiday movie of the fall (Fred Claus has made $66 million and counting, and yes, I wish I were fooling you). Four Christmases is bound to get the hell promoted out of it, and now it’s got four Oscar winners to brag about to boot.

Variety just announced that Sissy Spacek and Mary Steenburgen will be joining the cast as Vaughn’s mother and Witherspoon’s mother, respectively. Robert Duvall had already signed on as Vaughn’s dad, and Kristen Chenoweth, the only person in Hollywood perkier than Reese Witherspoon, will play her type-A sister. Spacek, Steenburgen, Duvall and Witherspoon are all Oscar-winners, though come to think of it, I’m not sure a silly family comedy really wants to promote that fact after all.
I think Spacek will be perfect as “the slightly spacey, New Age mother,” and Steenburgen too as “the chameleonlike mother of Kate (Witherspoon), whose personality changes depending on whom she's married to or dating.” No one thinks too much about Steenburgen these days, but she was quietly hilarious in both Back to the Future III (shut up, I liked it!) and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? Plus, it’s good to see older women getting out of the “once you’re over 40 in Hollywood you’re dead” ghetto and actually doing comedy, which does not, in fact, belong exclusively to Dane Cook.

Since we seem to only have three parents accounted for in these Four Christmases and the movie has already begun filming, I’m betting on seeing some more casting news soon. Now who do we want to play the playboy father of Witherspoon’s character, or the rich financier or whatever? I’m starting a lobby against Jack Nicholson, but I’m game for whatever else.

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