The surprisingly effective bleak humor earned scene by scene in Surviving Christmas reveals the proper formula that Affleck abandoned after Good Will Hunting.
Comment
10/22/04
Surviving Christmas (2004)
7
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
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
It's just in time for Halloween, and it is a scary movie. Unfortunately it's supposed to be a comedy.
10/22/04
Top CriticSurviving Christmas is exactly what's wrong with Hollywood
10/22/04
Neither Mitchell nor Affleck can make Drew's borderline-psychotic behavior appear sympathetic, no matter how much fake Christmas cheer is pumped into the movie.
10/22/04
An embodiment of everything Affleck should be fighting against – a completely sanitized, uncomplicated and bland effort.
10/22/04
Surviving Christmas is a mildly amusing concept that never gets above its two-dimensional nature.
10/22/04
If anyone needs to survive anything, it's having to sit through this dreadfully unfunny holiday movie. Pin a medal on me.
10/22/04
Affleck somehow remains convinced that he's a leading man. He does this despite mounting evidence to the contrary. ... Do I need to invoke the "G" word (Gigli)?
10/22/04
A pleasant surprise.
10/22/04
Why is this tool still being given the opportunity to say lines in front of a camera?
10/22/04
Summoning sympathy for poor-little-obnoxious-rich-man Drew is nearly as difficult as swallowing Grandma’s decade-old fruitcake.
10/22/04
Makes you hope that Santa brings you coal in your stocking - so that you can use it to go upside the head of anyone remotely involved with its production.
10/21/04
It’s as if someone felt that the only flaw in Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star was that the excruciating Christmas sequence just wasn’t long enough.
10/21/04
For Christmas to be any source of laughs, many audience members will need to move past their fear of Ben Affleck.
10/21/04
What the film seems to find amusing is at best uncomfortable and at worst a little scary.
10/21/04
This latest movie is absolutely awesome in its relentless mediocrity.
10/21/04
Despite opening to the tune of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” the timing of Surviving Christmas could not feel worse
10/21/04
I've never understood Affleck's leading man status. I find him smarmy and insincere on screen. That happens to make him perfect casting here.
10/21/04
It's all more ho-hum than ho-ho-ho.
10/21/04
Director Mike Mitchell never finds a tone or attitude that will transform these misanthropic characters into comedy.
10/21/04
Top CriticLatest 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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