i know it's not Christmas season,but i thought i'd watch this movie anyway.i didn't really have any expectations going in,so imagine my surprise when this turns out to be a watchable movie.it's not really very funny,but it has some amusing moments and it's not boring.i guess this was supposed to be a Ben Affleck vehicle,but i thought James Gandolfini and Catherine O'Hara had the more interesting characters and added more to the movie than Affleck did.Affleck does okay here,but he really has less to do than Gandolfini and O'Hara.Christina Applegate has a small role in the movie.this is a movie that satisfies you for 90 minutes,and then is quickly forgotten soon after.for me,"Surviving Christmas" is watchable and entertaining.as a result,i'll give it a 6/10
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the_usual_suspect23 December 2004Surviving Christmas
A ridiculous and perverse premise has somehow made its way onto cinema screens this Christmas. Just like Christmas With The Kranks and The Polar Express, Surviving Christmas winds towards a festive moral that aims to fill the audience with yuletide cheer. The execution of said moral in this particular seasonal release is highly questionnaire but unmistakably funny.
Surviving Christmas has been slammed by the critics remorselessly. Nobody seems to have liked this twisted retelling of the story of Scrooge, and I believe I have found the answer: nobody likes Ben Affleck.
Affleck plays a rich ad executive who pays a dysfunctional family to take him in and make Christmas just how it was when he was a child. This seriously strange idea could, in the right hands, been a gross out smash hit in the Farrely brothers style. Instead, Mike Mitchell decides to take the whole thing a little too seriously and what results is a comedy that is uncomfortable with itself. As a result the actors are left unsure whether to play their characters straight or exaggerated. This can be all be blamed on the script, or lack thereof. Filming took place without a finished draft, and thus, parts of the film were improvised and unfunny material remains in the final cut.
Nevertheless, there are many positive attributes to this genre subverting film. James Gandolfini is very entertaining as the constantly resentful Tom Valco whose only vice, in true Christmas spirit, is money.
Ben Affleck style in comedic roles is disliked by many, but his specific brand of humour is allowed to thrive in this unnatural plot and situation driven comedy. The character of the son (Josh Zuckerman) is underdeveloped, as is the family's relationship with its neighbours, but again the unfinished script can be held accountable.
Surviving Christmas is by no means a great film, but it is certainly not as bad as it has been labelled. Unfortunately, most won't get a chance to decide for themselves until this film is released on DVD as it was grossly under marketed in the UK. An offbeat comedy and a genuine step forward for the Scrooge remakes that when given the chance to shine in its own right, works quite well. -
lover10122 October 2004The cast of Surviving Christmas is a sort of hodge-podge of actors/actresses. I could not have imagined ever casting them together, but it works well in the movie. It is better than the average feel-good Christmas movie, but not destined to be a classic. The comedy is well dispursed throughout, and the movie moved along at a good pace. I have seen plenty of holiday movies, but never imagined one with Ben Affleck. As a matter of fact, this is the first time I have seen an Affleck movie. (I have shunned them on purpose in the past - Well, OK, I did like Dazed and Confused). The movie, however, is entertaining, and only a few jokes fall flat. 7 out of 10 on the holiday scale.
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philwho6 February 2007Ultimately this movie will never topple other Christmas classics as It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, A Christmas Story or even Scrooged but I think it is one of the funniest, most entertaining Christmas movies out there. What is known about this movie is that it had no script when production began, it was shelved for a year and that it was one of quickest theatre to DVD turnovers ever. What seems to be mostly unknown is that it is, in addition to all of that, really very funny. Affleck has a certain charm. Many critics and audiences dislike him for a reason I can't really understand. I feel his choices undermine his talent. Forces of Nature is not good, plain and simple. There are many questionable choices on his resume and this may be why most dismiss his abilities. I will say that Glory Daze, Chasing Amy, Good Will Hunting and Changing Lanes show he has got some talent, not a lot, but some. What Surviving Christmas provides us with is an obviously over the top, "hammy" performance. There is nothing in this performance that says that he is trying for nuance, what he is doing is being goofy. The plot is a guy going back to his childhood home to relive Christmas he never had. This would, and should bring out the kid in anyone. I am a goofball when it comes to Christmas. Affleck is hamming it up the whole time with big toothy grins and throwaway one liners that make me laugh EVERY TIME I see this movie. I watched it twice today in fact. It is one of mine and my coworkers favorite holiday movies. The trailers were weak, the plot is laughable and the ending gets a bit overwrought thus making it difficult to get anyone to see it but it's been my experience that once someone DOES see this movie they like it. I work at a video store and I play it often and every time I play it, while it is on the screens, someone asks if they can rent it as they had been watching it, caught a funny bit and wanted to see more. They are shocked to find it is a Christmas movie, with Ben Affleck and it is funny.
Those who watch it will not be disappointed. -
dunmore_ego29 May 2006There is one great moment in *Surviving Christmas* that almost makes it worth the pain: James Gandolfini cracks a shovel over Ben Affleck's stupid head.
This movie serves as yet another unfortunate example of James Gandolfini proving what a great actor he is whilst simultaneously besmirching his career by acting in this film.
Young and wealthy ad exec, Drew Latham (Ben Affleck) has been inculcated into believing that one must never be alone on Christmas. (And there, from the outset, is the underlying problem with our suspension of disbelief in this idiotic movie: how many people of Drew's social standing, in 2004, truly care one way or another whether Christmas is spent alone or with half the family or with a fifty-dollar prostitute?) Storyline finds Drew buying off a family to spend Christmas with, on the condition that they pretend to be his own, insensately ignoring all the indications to the contrary that his money has not bought the emotions he was seeking.
For $250,000, a surly suburban truck driver, Tom Valco (James Gandolfini), and his disheveled wife, Christine (Catherine O'Hara), agree to be Drew's ad hoc family, against protests from their son, Brian (a very one-dimensional Josh Zuckerman) and daughter, Alicia (a very soft-focused Christina Applegate). Drew then spends the rest of the movie supposedly recapturing his youth or - something. The messages in this movie are as twisted and illogical as its dry-mouthed storyline. Fraught with overt psychoses, Drew plasters a fake smile on his face and blindly remains in denial against every denigration that he was supposedly buying the Valco family to avoid.
Which begs the question: If Drew is paying these people to recapture some semblance of joyous familial emotion, how psychotic must he be to pretend happiness amongst their barbs and mental anguish over his presence? It is not a case of the Valco family hiding their true feelings and pretending to be happy while around Drew - three of the four members make it patently clear they despise him. Is he so incognizant that he cannot see that his money is not buying him the "family" atmosphere he was inculcated into believing was a truth in the first place? As with all movies this opprobrious, one wonders how *four* screenwriters could possibly get so tangled in their own narcissistic dreams of appearing in a credits sequence that they will overlook any semblance of plausibility, or intelligence.
Director Mike Mitchell, who was responsible for *Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo* - stop right there. 'Nuff said.
Gandolfini and O'Hara somehow manage to shine, proving their mettle amongst this mess. Christina Applegate is willowy and cutesy and blond and fiery in all the right places, scathingly cutting Drew into little strips of carcass for most of the movie, then doing an about-face and falling in love with him because the script tells her to.
And I wouldn't go so far as to say that Affleck is a bad actor, but John Schneider better look over his shoulder. There's a whole new level of Desperately Seeking Talent in town. -
jpintar14 March 2005Surviving Christmas is a surprisingly funny movie especially considering the bad publicity when it was first released. Ben Affleck is funny as an obnoxious millionaire who pays the family that occupies his childhood home to be his family for Christmas. He then drives the family crazy with overindulgence for Christmas cheer. I have not been a Ben Affleck fan in the past (though I did like Daredevil and Paycheck) but here he is well cast in this role. I also like Christina Applegate as the daughter in the family who can't stand Affleck's character at first. Sure you can see where this movie is going but you don't care. Ignore what the critics say and rent this movie out because it is funnier than a lot of Christmas movies.
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This movie was pretty absurd. There was a FEW funny parts. Its goes right in to the bin of movies in my memory where I think, "Hmm.....that movie had a few funny parts, but overall, pretty ridiculous plot (or lack of)."
I thought it seemed like Ben was trying a little too hard to be a cooky funny guy. And I didn't understand how he was a self made multi-millionaire and still such an idiot. Anyways, I like Ben Affleck. He makes some crap, but hey, I can forgive him. I mean, I liked Jersey Girl, I didn't think Gigli was all his fault, I like him overall. I guess he's kinda like the kid you feel sorry for cuz he just can't seem to get it right.
My advice would be to avoid this flick. It didn't really develop in to a workable plot and Catherine O'hara and Jimmy G. weren't used as well as they could have been. They deserved better. Overall, this movie is NOT Home Alone, it's NOT A Christmas Story, its NOT Christmas Vacation or any of the other classics. Forever Forgettable. -
dbregenzer5 November 2004This movie isn't as bad as I heard. It was enjoyable, funny and I love that is revolves around the holiday season. It totally has me in the mood to Christmas shop and listen to holiday music. When this movie comes out on DVD it will take the place of Christmas Vacation in my collection. It will be a movie to watch every year after Thanksgiving to get me in the mood for the best time of the year. I heard that Ben's character was a bit crazy but I think it just adds to the movie and why be so serious all the time. Take it for what is it, a Christmas comedy with a love twist. I enjoyed it. No, it isn't Titanic and it won't make your heart pound with anticipation but it will bring on a laugh or two. So go laugh and have a good time:)
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unimportant22 January 2005I get the feeling that those involved in making "Surviving Christmas" didn't put much thought into the movie. The characters are so inconsistent and the plot makes so little sense that the movie played like a rough draft of a script thrown together with little but the one-liner concept of a rich guy paying a family to let him spend Christmas with them.
Ben Affleck portrays Drew Latham, the typical Hollywood image of a wealthy, egotistical advertising executive who buys his way through life. His girlfriend, Missy, leaves him shortly before Christmas because she's disgusted that Drew wanted to take her to Fiji for Christmas, which she calls "the family holiday," and the fact that Drew has never introduced her to his family. We later find out that Drew's father left when he was 4 years old, and his mother is dead, so it's a mystery why he doesn't just say that he has no family, rather than allow his girlfriend to believe that he doesn't care about his family.
Out of fear of being alone on Christmas, Drew tracks down Missy's shrink (why? I have no idea), who suggests he do a forgiveness ritual at his childhood home. When he meets the family living in his childhood home, the Valcos, Drew offers them $250,000 to pretend to be his family, so he can relive his fond childhood memories. He gets angry when he later finds out that they have an adult daughter, Alicia (Christina Applegate), because he "doesn't have a sister," and even goes so far as to write a script for the family to follow so that they act more like his "real" family. None of this makes any sense once Drew reveals that he grew up with no family but his mother.
Also inexplicable is the character of Alicia, who is annoyed that her family accepted Drew's money, and refuses to play along with his fantasy. But for no good reason, she suddenly starts to like Drew, and in a matter of minutes goes from hating his guts to acting like his girlfriend. Drew is such a complete jerk throughout the movie that even his sad story about the lonely Christmases of his childhood evokes no sympathy; I almost wish he had finished with, "Just kidding! The real reason I don't see my family is that they all have restraining orders against me!" (2/10) -
Sylviastel25 December 2007You can survive Surviving Christmas. I thought the television version was a bit edited way down. I like Ben Afleck. He plays Drew Johnson, a family-less adult, who is willing to pay complete strangers. The Valcos starring James Gandolfini and Catherine O'Hara as the parents and Christina Applegate as Lisa Valco, the daughter. Drew is lonely around the holidays because he doesn't have a family of his own so he rents out a family in the Chicago suburbs for a quarter million dollars. Bill Macy who I best remember for playing Maude's husband Arthur is hired to play Duda, the grandfather. When the whole situation comes crashing down, the truth can be painful. The Valcos household is crumbling apart from the Drew situation. Drew's rich girlfriend and her parents make a surprising visit. You can't buy what you wish for! The acting and writing is mediocre but the first rate cast pulls it through to the final scene.
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Surviving Christmas (2004) Ben Affleck, James Gandolfini, Christina Applegate, Catherine O' Hara, Josh Zuckerman, Bill Macy, Jennifer Morrison, Udo Kier, D: Mike Mitchell. Dumped by his girlfriend, a hotshot yuppie doesn't want to be left alone on Christmas so he decides to return to his boyhood home, imposing on the dysfunctional family that now lives there and bribes them to pose as his family. An obnoxious and one-dimensional performance by Affleck, who mainly acts with a flashy smile, makes his character come off as a mentally unbalanced creep, but Gandolfini and O' Hara breathe some life into this mess. Even for farce, its silliness is lumbering, not much makes sense from scene to scene, and its sentimental messages are as phony as Affleck's grin. 91 min., rated PG-13. * ½
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cg-cgeorge13 March 2008What would you expect from a film titled 'Surviving Christmas'and presented as 'festive fun', something like Ghandi or English patient? There are lots of things I love about this film, it's funny, it is very well cast and it is superbly written. I came to the film as a Kaplan/Elfort fan but was dubious when I read the plot, it sounded ridiculous. But the film doesn't come across like that because Affleck (as Drew Latham) plays his part perfectly, one minute a child-like adult, the next a mature man who realises he has gained everything in life apart from what he really wants. In fact we see Latham grow up in this film, when he encounters the problems of those he envies and realises that their lives are not so good, he sees that his own lot is not so bad.
This film has fewer weak or dud scenes than many other comedies I have seen. Comedy is so much harder than any other type of drama, it either works or it doesn't and very few comedy writers get it correct every time.I particularly loved the drama scene, where the family take to reading parts written by Latham . The pleasure is in the reaction of Tom Valco (James Gandolfini) and the comments of Brian Valco (Josh Zuckerman). It is the dilemma of the greedy Tom Valco who has to bite his tongue, wear silly hats or sing to the Christmas tree in order to earn the prize money that keeps the film moving along well.
The addition of daughter Alicia (Christina Applegate) into the story brings a delightful romantic angle, and why not in a Christmas film? Of course its corny and contrived; he's rich and handsome, she's beautiful and single, and so inevitably her and Afflect end up falling over together in the snow and finding themselves face to face. Great! One thing I would have liked was more use of festive music to boost the atmosphere but I can't really complain. I got what I wanted. -
view_and_review28 May 2008What's not to like about this movie? Every year you know that you're going to get one or two yule tide movies during Christmas time and most of them are going to be terrible. This movie is definitely a fresh new idea that was pulled off pretty well. A very funny take on a rich young guy paying a family to simulate a real Christmas for him. What is the good of having money like that if you can't do fun things with it. It was a win-win situation. A regular family gets six figures and a rich guy gets to experience Christmas like he imagined. Only if.
Drew Latham (Ben Affleck) was incredibly difficult to deal with and it was just a riot to see the family reluctantly comply with his absurd demands. It was a fun and funny movie. -
D_Burke2 January 2012"Surviving Christmas" is not a train wreck of a movie: with train wrecks, you can't look away. Calling "Surviving Christmas" a train wreck would be insulting every professional member of the railway industry, including some conductors who show up drunk to work.
It is truly appalling that a movie this bad ever got green-lit. Ben Affleck is more obnoxious in this movie than he has ever been in any of his other movies (and yes, that does include "Gigli" (2003)). His acting is terrible, his timing is worse, and every time he opens his mouth, you can see him sucking every ounce of heart from this movie.
To be fair, Affleck is not the only guilty party here. According to some IMDb trivia I read, the movie began filming when the script was not even finished yet. Given many of the plot holes and inconsistencies in the final product, that fact is unfortunately not too surprising.
Affleck plays Drew, a rich advertising executive who apparently has no family to visit during the holidays. When he buys his girlfriend tickets to Fiji for Christmas, she walks out on him because of his steadfast refusal to spend Christmas with his family.
Where is his family, you ask? Well, Drew never explains until near the end of the movie. At that point, there are so many inconsistencies with his alleged back story that it feels like a lousy excuse to justify his reasoning for many of his actions through the film.
In any case, when Drew finds his girlfriend's shrink (Stephen Root), he tries to get advice from this doctor despite the fact that the doctor is rushing through the airport trying to get on an airplane with his kids. Talk about inconsiderate! The blatantly rushed psychiatrist quickly tells Drew to write down his family grievances on a sheet of paper, go to his childhood home, and burn the paper right there. That way, he will be putting his past behind him, and feeling less lonely on Christmas.
This setup is only a contrived way for Drew to return to his family's home in the suburbs, and find it occupied by the Valcos, a working-class, unhappy, dysfunctional family. This family is so not into the Christmas spirit that they made me wonder if they even celebrated Christmas, a question Affleck's character appeared too dumb to ask.
Ben Affleck appears so desperate for laughs in the scene where his character ventures upon his childhood home for the first time in years. He starts hugging the tree in the front yard, and laughing hysterically as he burns his grievances out front. He acts so stupidly in this scene, and comes off like a bad comedian imitating a mentally challenged man on Prozac. It's baffling how Affleck destroys his character's credibility instantly. Millionaire ad executives don't act like this.
The movie doesn't get much better, as Drew offers the Valcos $250,000 to stay at their house through Christmas. The family has to play along with Drew's idea of a perfect Christmas if they want to get paid, whether they like it or not. Glum patriarch Tom (James Gandolfini) is the most begrudging in this charade, but does everything that's asked of him anyway.
This movie falls apart in its failure to make sense at any point. If some douche bag were to offer me a quarter of a million dollars to stay with my family through the holidays, I would want to SEE that money IN CASH. This guy better have a suitcase with that money in it, and some form of I.D. would also help.
However, Gandolfini just hears that Affleck will pay him, and jumps to the conclusion that this guy is credible. He never once thinks for a second, "Gee, this guy just might be a serial killer, or an escaped mental patient, who is just saying he has this money. He is probably bluffing us, and will rob us the first chance he gets." THAT reaction would have been plausible.
After that totally contrived exhibition, the rest of the film instantly loses its credibility. Ben Affleck maintains an all-too eccentric Joker-like smile throughout the film that he practically gives himself wrinkles. Similarly, the Valco family is so surly throughout the film that it's impossible to feel any compassion for them, even when Affleck's too-chipper antics, like a mental patient tripping on Saint John's Wart, get under their skin as much as they will get under yours.
Although Affleck drove his acting career into the ground with a handful of flops before this holiday dreck came out ("Gigli", "Paycheck" (2003)), it's surprising to see the very talented James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, and Christina Applegate go along for the ride. These actors also looked unhappy to be in the film, and who could blame them? "Surviving Christmas" is a huge miss. It's a terrible comedy, a horrible Christmas movie, and proof that Affleck cannot carry a leading role without Matt Damon co-starring or Kevin Smith directing. Granted, in later years, Affleck has proved himself worthy as a director, but his acting career has suffered permanent damage because of dismal films like this.
I cannot imagine anyone actually liking this atrocious film. The only worthwhile scene is when James Gandolfini hits Ben Affleck over the head with a large shovel. However, that scene only happens once, and will make every audience member wish they could jump into the scene with their own shovels in hand. -
nyugrd27 October 2004Don't listen to the critics - this film is truly hilarious and, more to the point, touching.
I am not a real fan of Ben Affleck - I am somewhat ambivalent about hi - but he knocks the comedy ball out of the park in this film. Gandolfini is also excellent, as always.
Is this a holiday classic? Perhaps not, but in the tradition of Bad Santa, this is going to become part of my DVD collection as soon as possible.
Do yourself a favor - go see this truly funny movie! The only downside is your sides will hurt from all the laughs!
Merry Christmas! -
HIM_dale13 December 2004I went to see this film at the cinemas and i was shocked when I got in the room. There was only me and my girlfriend! This shouted to me that this film is not very good.
Not to my surprise, the film was dire. Ben Affleck plays a guy who buys a family for Christmas. It is a very predictable narrative with him falling in love with the girl that hates him. His acting is OKish but for the comedy aspect of the film he is not very good. The plot line is poor and the comedy almost non-existent.
However, there are some good points. For example, the family is falling apart and the mother is very funny.
I hope this review stops other people wasting their money. I was very embarrassed when I came out of the room!!! -
Surviving Christmas (2004) is a movie that I recently watched on Amazon Prime. The storyline follows a successful businessman with nowhere to go for Christmas. He decides to pay a family $250,000 to take him in for Christmas and follow his directions on how he wants Christmas to go and hopefully win his girlfriend back. The family struggles with this awful idea but does their best to help him find what he's looking for...
This movie is directed by Mike Mitchell (Trolls) and stars Ben Affleck (Justice League), Christina Applegate (Married with Children), James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), Bill Macy (The Jerk) and Udo Kier (Skinwalkers).
Ben Affleck and James Gandolfini are absolutely magic in this picture. Their interactions, dialogue and juggling of circumstances was hilarious. Christina Applegate delivers a tremendous performance as well. Her persistent attack on Affleck was a treat. The family dynamic is perfectly portrayed as is their reactions to various scenarios. The ending is a bit predictable but still fun.
Overall, this isn't a Christmas classic but it's definitely a fun watch. I would score this a 7/10 and strongly recommend seeing it once. -
I remember when this was in theaters, reviews said it was horrible. Well, I didn't think it was that bad. It was amusing and had a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor concerning families around holiday time.
Ben Affleck is a rich guy who needs to find a family for Christmas to please his girlfriend. He goes to visit the house he grew up in and strikes a deal to rent the family there for Christmas. I really liked the lawyer scene where they sign a contract. That was funny.
So, he makes silly requests of the family and even writes scripts for them to read. Of course, the family has a hot daughter for the love interest. And he learns that the holidays aren't so bad after all.
Also, the whole doo-dah act was funny, especially when they replaced the first one with a black guy, and the girlfriends's parents didn't even say anything about it. And the parts where doo-dah is hitting on his "supposed daughter." FINAL VERDICT: I thought it's worth checking out if you catch it on cable. -
swoolvers12 December 2020I think I like this movie because I love and miss James Gandolfini...Ben Affleck is goofy and forced but within reasonable acting chops. At least it's not a prince and wayward woman Christmas story. BTW seriously ugly Christmas trees
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klkitchens22 October 2004This movie is terrible. TERRIBLE. One of the worst movies ever. I cannot even imagine Gigli being worse that this. Previews made us say "NO", but then looking for something amid the dreck out there right now, we decided to go ahead and give it a shot.
STUPID US.
Affleck is NOT an actor. He's an image and can look good with explosions, but not even the kind Bruce Willis got in "Die Hard". If he stripped his shirt and ran around fighting bad guys, it would be a comedy.
The best part was Catherine O'Hara -- she's always good. Gandolfini flops again (if it weren't for The Sopranos, he'd be washed up) like he did in "The Mexican".
Affleck hogs every scene and as others have said -- no character has any motivation whatsoever for their actions.
AVOID THIS MOVIE AT ALL COSTS. -
tgreer-619 November 2022I wasn't expecting much based on the movie's overall review score and other recently watched "just okay" Christmas movies, but this was much better than I thought it would be. Unlike a few other reviewers, I won't be watching it every Christmas, but I'm glad I watched it once. And yes, it was a little predictable, but most Christmas movies are. We don't watch Christmas movies to feel bad, we want to have a good time and walk away in a good mood. I think they accomplished that with this movie. At this point I'm just writing to finish out the required amount of characters to submit a review.....
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Pookyiscute15 February 2005So, I know that I voted 1 out of 10 but really this deserves no more than half of a star. I hated it. It was so stupid and unrealistic, I can't believe any of the stars signed on to make this ridiculously absurd project.
James G. and Cathrine O'Hara were excellent in their characters and Ben Affleck and Christina Applegate were just as good too, but the story sucked and I encourage anyone who sees this in the video store to not even bother picking it up and reading the back cover, but to just walk away...I don't even want to get into what the movie is about, because it is too stupid to pontificate about.
Don't rent this! It's horrible! Horrible! -
kairingler18 February 2008At first i didn't think that Ben Affleck could really pull off a funny Christmas movie,, boy was i wrong, my daughter invited me to watch this with her and i was not disappointed at all. James Gandolfini was funny,, i really liked Christina Appelagate, and Catherine O' Hara was good too, the storyline is what really sold me,, i mean,, too put up with family,, at the table for people you only hardly see but once or twice a year,, and probably don't get along with anyway,, you really do need as much alcohol as you're system can stand to deal with Christmas,, so i thought that the premise was good there, buying the family with 250000 dollars, was a little on the far fetched side,, but it turned out to work pretty good for me,, cause it was a riot all the way through, it shows the class struggle of the different families. it has lot's of funny moments, including embarrassing stuff on the computer for a teenage boy. all in all i loved this movie and will watch it again next Christmas or sooner if my daughter wants too.
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r96sk10 December 2022The star cast elevate this a lot.
Ben Affleck, James Gandolfini, Christina Applegate and Catherine O'Hara are, honestly, the only reasons this was watchable, for me personally at least. If it was a film with a lesser known cast, I wouldn't have any positives for it.
For a festive flick, it's a little too mean-spirited. Of course that's the way these films usually go so the eventual pay-off can occur, though with this it's a bit too the other way and the aforementioned pay-off isn't all that pleasant. You gotta make the characters way more likeable if you're only gonna redeem them a tiny bit.
'Surviving Christmas' is at least only a relatively short film at around 90 minutes and there are a couple (if not enough) amusing moments. There's also a surprisingly topical commentary on unintentionally consenting your likeness away via photos - I'm looking at you, latest Instagram trend. -
PhlickPhan28 January 2005May contain spoilers.
I say that, but anyone savvy enough to be reading this can probably figure out every plot turn right from the start.
This is not a movie that I liked. I didn't hate it in the way of some movies that insult your intelligence, but it all felt too predictable on its trudge to the requisite happy ending. There were funny bits along the way to be sure, but few were original. At least it didn't go for the gutter.
Christina Applegate looks fresh, and Ben Affleck works hard. Their scenes together are actually the only redeeming feature. Everyone else is a cardboard cutout, including, surprisingly, James Gandolfini, who must have made this as a favor to someone.
All in all, it's a harmless, but not inspiring, 90 minutes.