Surviving Christmas (2004)

Well Deserved Praise

The Worst Film Ever

Lack of good storyline.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

this film come out in 2004 when Ben afleck career seemed to be going down the toilet but this was panned but i saw nothing wrong with this festive film which is fun for the whole family not a classic but its well worth the watch an i enjoyed this with a good cast at 1hr31mins it has some fun moments in it .Ben Affleck his .character is Drew Latham is .A lonely, obnoxious young rich executive millionaire pays a family to spend Christmas with James Gandolfini as Tom Valco his wife Catherine O'Hara ...as the lonely Christine Valco but the two get a makeover of sorts to sort out each other and his new sister and brother Christina Applegate ... ... Christine Valco Josh Zuckerman ... Brian Valco so when drew decides to find himself a friend for Xmas but he decides with all the madness mischief and mayhem to find his old home and bury the ghost of his past a decides when he get there to rent himself a family just so his girlfriend see he has one as he hates being alone the val cos have to decide on a offer and a script to play along with with the annoying new member his outrageous diva demands turns there holidays into a nightmare scenario in this slapstick comedy that really makes any dysfunctional family look good watch out for there hilarious grandparents so with snow a dysfunctional family to the rescue drew kinda saves this family in around bout way but his old girlfriend find this arraignment's believable but its not the answer but drew is excited in this warm funny film for Xmas better than expected 6/10

Surviving Christmas (2004): Dir: Mike Mitchell / Cast: Ben Affleck, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, Christina Applegate, Josh Zuckerman: Standard Christmas comedy about family. Ben Affleck wishes to rekindle childhood memories but another family now lives in his childhood home so he pays the family to represent his family and reprise old memories. Good idea but structured like a sitcom with sets to match. Directed by Mike Mitchell whose best element is the character development, which is surprisingly good. Affleck is surprisingly funny as he attempts to reprise old memories and driving this family up the wall in the process. James Gandolfini steals the film as his hired father who grows rapidly impatient with the whole ordeal. Catherine O'Hara is terrific as his hired mother in a role that is perfect for her comic talent. Their marriage is in trouble so Affleck makes her an offer that lands her in hot water. The only real weak character is the daughter, played by Christina Applegate whom Affleck will fall for. Since he doesn't have a sister, she will be placed as the maid. Applegate has great comic potential but her role here is too obvious. Josh Zuckerman plays Applegate's brother who will get lured into the predictable charade. The film's purpose is to celebrate family and surviving each other long enough to remember what it is all about. Score: 5 ½ / 10

So it's your average, run of the mill Christmas rom-com about a self-absorbed millionaire who selfishly decides to invade the Christmas of a family who now inhabit the home in which he once lived as a child. A way in which he can re-discover the Christmas spirit, and the common touch from which his hedonistic lifestyle has grown distant. His treatment though of the family (Gandolfini, O'Hara, Zuckerman and Affleck's eventual love interest, Applegate) is borderline exploitation, paying them to affect a Christmas experience to essentially cure his own guilt.Affleck has never much impressed me, and his performance here still carries that air of self-indulgence, even though he's basically playing a self-centred prick. Gandolfini and O'Hara develop a realistic chemistry of a couple who've grown apart in their day-to-day grind (the family are depicted as the typical urban battlers, to emphasise the contrast with Affleck's careless toff), and the remaining cast features some familiar faces in David Selby, Udo Keir, Stephen Root and Peter Jason among others.It's a pretty tame, but watchable Christmas outing, with a clichéd conclusion and message that always seems to strike the right chord when dressed in red, white and green and covered in mistletoe. Definitely an afternoon Christmas flick for the 23rd or 24th of December.

Early on, Ben Affleck made a few entertaining pictures. Then he lapsed into a period where he made some real stinkers. Recently he has begun to come out of that period, and may yet again have a truly successful screen career.This film is not exactly a stinker, but it's like milk that is past the due date...not too far from going bad. If you expect a lot out of this flick, you'll probably be disappointed. Looks more like a TV movie from the Hallmark Channel than a big screen production...although at least a Hallmark television movie would have a little more heart to it. I watched this film on cable because the cable listing description described Affleck as "utterly charming" in this film...but it also had only 1 star...so I was prepared.There were possibilities here. A young ad exec has lost his sense of wonderment of Christmas and family, breaks up with his girl, and ends up looking forward to Christmas alone. He tries to find friends to share the holiday with him, but none want him. No wonder! Then he gets the idea from another minor acquaintance who also doesn't want him, to write his regrets on a piece of paper and then burn them at a place that was special to him. So he goes to the house he grew up in, gets clobbered by the low-class present owner (James Gandolfini), but ends up renting the family and house for an outrageous sum of money. Of course, the family is a bunch of weirdos and he even has to rent a grandfather. We learn that even as a child, Afflect had lousy and lonely Christmases. Of course, Affleck begins falling in love with a somewhat cynical (but at least realistic) Christina Applegate...perhaps the only actor in the film that showed some talent here. But this Affleck's girlfriend and her rich family shows up, and another whole set of somewhat predictable disasters occur.Affleck utterly charming here? I think not. Gandolfini shows the talent he did on cable drama? No.Okay, so I watched it once, but never again. There's just no...well, very little heart to this film. Someone decided they had to make a Christmas flick...they did...it failed...and this is the result. I'd rather meet one of Scrooge's ghosts than meet up with this film again.