All that's vaguely funny or Christmassy about this are the sweaty beads of desperation which string together like fairy-lights across Affleck's forehead as he hammers out one lame gag after another.
Comment
11/30/04
Surviving Christmas (2004)
7
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:108
Fresh:8
Rotten:100
Average Rating:3/10
Consensus: Surviving Christmas is unpleasant characters attacking each other for 90 minutes before delivering a typical, hollow anti-consumerist message
Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Academy Award® winner Ben Affleck ("Good Will Hunting"), Emmy winner James Gandolfini (TV’s "The Sopranos") and Christina Applegate ("View From the Top," TV’s "Married With Children") star in the... [More]
Starring: Ben Affleck, James Gandolfini, Christina Applegate, Catherine O'Hara
Director: Mike Mitchell
Reviews for Surviving Christmas
Top CriticDespite the talent involved, this fails to raise so much as a smile, let alone laughs and Christmas cheer.
04/01/06
Top CriticThe premise has potential, as does the casting, but the script is so mind-numbingly lazy that it insults its audience at every turn.
11/07/04
The moral is that money can indeed buy happiness.
06/24/06
Top CriticA colossal turkey.
12/04/04
You may not survive watching it.
12/30/06
Surviving Christmas wusses out by trying to make itself a warm holiday movie.
10/23/04
It’s apparent why ‘Affleck’ and ‘comedy’ (at least of the intentional variety) aren’t normally said in the same sentence.
10/21/04
The idea of casting Ben Affleck as some kind of giddy holiday angel who drops in and makes everything all right again was doomed from day one.
10/29/04
It aims for mediocrity and hits the bullseye.
10/21/04
It’s almost worth the price of admission to see Gandolfini whack Affleck in the head with a snow shovel, but things mostly go downhill from there.
10/21/04
This is a dump job worthy of Tony Soprano.
10/21/04
The movie is dead from the outset given the artificiality of the premise about a lonely rich guy who hires the folks living in his boyhood home to be his family for the holidays.
03/05/07
If one were to dwell on the logic of the story, the film would crumble.
10/24/04
Surviving Christmas can’t decide whether it wants to be naughty or nice and the end result is a sometime funny story, but with a severe multiple personality disorder .
11/30/04
Surviving Christmas is exactly what's wrong with Hollywood
10/22/04
Survive this movie and Christmas will be a breeze.
10/30/04
Surviving Christmas is unable to induce that all-important holiday tear.
10/21/04
Pique on earth and ill will toward men permeate this mirthless comedy.
03/05/07
As light, fluffy, cockle-warming holiday entertainment, this thing is pretty sweet.
10/21/04
Latest News for Surviving Christmas
October 17, 2007:
Total Recall: Ben (Affleck's) Bits
In Gone Baby Gone, Ben Affleck directs younger brother Casey in a mystery surrounding the case of a missing Boston girl. In the spirit of Total Recall, we decided to take a look... More...
March 12, 2007:
Ben Affleck Goes Straight to Video With "Man About Town"
Okay, we all knew Ben Affleck was having some problems, and earned a few Razzie nominations several years in a row, but he's still a movie star. Could it really have gotten to... More...
December 15, 2005:
Critical Consensus: A Sly "Family Stone," A Towering "Kong"
This week at the movies, we have a giant ape {"King Kong"} and some yuletide dramedy ("The Family Stone"). Will the critics go bananas for these flicks? More...
October 25, 2005:
"Sky High" Director to Helm "Claus" Comedy
The Hollywood Reporter brings news of a new holiday-themed comedy from Mike Mitchell, director of "Sky High." It's about Santa's disgruntled older brother, and it's... More...
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