Genres

Visitors Review

Linda Cook 2012-05-24 16:34:54

Poor Ben Affleck has become the new kiss of death for movies.

Pete Vonder Haar 2012-05-24 05:06:27

Affleck may finally have found a use for his obnoxious personality, because Drew is amazingly annoying.

robert 2012-05-14 11:47:40

Kinda cute

I thought it was cute....what else were you expecting...I applaud for giving the holiday season a jump start....It was somewhat predictable but left you with a feel good, silly feelin', I didn't get the impression that this movie was meant to be deep in any way...so not sure why the other reviews are so hard on this movie...anyway...remember light hearted and fun...Happy Holidays. Overall grade B+

Scott Foundas 2012-05-13 22:19:44

The ludicrous premise is but the latest expression of that bourgeois guilt that crops up in Hollywood like clockwork around this time of year, spawning films in which modern-day Scrooges learn that money, or at least money alone, can't buy true happiness.

2012-05-13 01:59:59

A GOOD MOVIE

I thought this movie was a pretty good movie. Ben Affleck did a wonderful job playing Drew. I definately recommend this movie to anyone.

JoshtheGiant 2012-05-12 11:01:10

Jaw Dropping Bad

Surviving Christmas is a horrible mess of a Christmas movie that wasmade worse by the choice of releasing it in October. It was better thanI expected because it actually had a plot and a point even if neitherwere good. The story is very bad, it has a hole lot of major plot holesand doesn't make any sense. The screenplay is horrible, it has everysign of being written by four people each of which have a differentidea for the movie, none of which are very good. The dialogue sucks,and the characters are paper thin. The acting is horrible, Ben Affleckgives his worst performance, much worse than his performance in Gigli.The direction is amazingly bad, just horrible. The visuals are betterthan anything else but still horrible. A terrible mess of a film,avoid. Don't even try to Survive this film you will most likely fail.

Donald Munro 2012-05-03 04:25:27

Affleck is so outrageously miscast as goofball Drew Latham that it's like watching Jennifer Lopez taking on the role of Lady Macbeth at the Scottish National Theatre.

Kirk Honeycutt 2012-05-02 16:52:46

Director Mike Mitchell never finds a tone or attitude that will transform these misanthropic characters into comedy.

Douglas Brown 2012-05-02 01:05:03

Better then Gigli

As with most of Ben Affleck's movies, the comedy is dry and story ispredictable. That is if you want to call this a story. Many points wereleft connected with no thought at all. I want to thank the director fornot explaining the points better. I say that because, that would meanthe torture would have lasted longer. As for any of Ben Affleck'sfailures, this one is no exception and is survivable only by the otheractors. Even then, the acting for the most part was contrived and wasnot believable. The trip down memory lane with actors I have not seenin years was not worth the price of admission. All thought it should betold, they too are quickly joining the ranks of the "has-been". Mychoice was to wait for my car to be fixed or watch this movie. I madethe wrong decision. All in all I would give it a one laugh ... mainlybecause that is all I got out of it.

view_and_review 2012-05-01 13:59:41

Fun and funny movie

What's not to like about this movie? Every year you know that you'regoing to get one or two yule tide movies during Christmas time and mostof them are going to be terrible. This movie is definitely a fresh newidea that was pulled off pretty well. A very funny take on a rich youngguy paying a family to simulate a real Christmas for him. What is thegood of having money like that if you can't do fun things with it. Itwas a win-win situation. A regular family gets six figures and a richguy gets to experience Christmas like he imagined. Only if.Drew Latham (Ben Affleck) was incredibly difficult to deal with and itwas just a riot to see the family reluctantly comply with his absurddemands. It was a fun and funny movie.

Joshua Morrall 2012-04-25 14:24:52

Subvert that genre!

Surviving ChristmasA ridiculous and perverse premise has somehow made its way onto cinemascreens this Christmas. Just like Christmas With The Kranks and ThePolar Express, Surviving Christmas winds towards a festive moral thataims to fill the audience with yuletide cheer. The execution of saidmoral in this particular seasonal release is highly questionnaire butunmistakably funny.Surviving Christmas has been slammed by the critics remorselessly.Nobody seems to have liked this twisted retelling of the story ofScrooge, and I believe I have found the answer: nobody likes BenAffleck.Affleck plays a rich ad executive who pays a dysfunctional family totake 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 outsmash hit in the Farrely brothers style. Instead, Mike Mitchell decidesto take the whole thing a little too seriously and what results is acomedy that is uncomfortable with itself. As a result the actors areleft unsure whether to play their characters straight or exaggerated.This can be all be blamed on the script, or lack thereof. Filming tookplace without a finished draft, and thus, parts of the film wereimprovised and unfunny material remains in the final cut.Nevertheless, there are many positive attributes to this genresubverting film. James Gandolfini is very entertaining as theconstantly resentful Tom Valco whose only vice, in true Christmasspirit, is money.Ben Affleck style in comedic roles is disliked by many, but hisspecific brand of humour is allowed to thrive in this unnatural plotand 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 certainlynot as bad as it has been labelled. Unfortunately, most won't get achance to decide for themselves until this film is released on DVD asit was grossly under marketed in the UK. An offbeat comedy and agenuine step forward for the Scrooge remakes that when given the chanceto shine in its own right, works quite well.

Angel Cohn 2012-04-25 04:26:12

Just like many real-life holiday get-togethers with the family, this comedy starts out pleasantly enough but degenerates into awkwardness and furtive watch-checking to see how much longer you have to suffer before you can leave.

Allison Benedikt 2012-04-24 23:17:02

As light, fluffy, cockle-warming holiday entertainment, this thing is pretty sweet.

2012-04-24 11:54:54

Give it a chance!

Maybe it's because I'm a total sucker for Christmas movies, or maybe it's because I don't overanalyze everything, or maybe it's because I'm not a biased Ben Affleck hater, but I actually liked this movie!The story was good, I laughed out loud more than a couple of times, and I thought all of the actors did well in their roles. The idea of someone renting a family for Christmas with a contract worth $250,000 promising the renter a fun-filled holiday is a promising one, in my opinion. A lot can be done with a story line like that but wasn't, and that is my only complaint. But, like I said, I don't over analyze things like that, so I felt like the hour and a half or so that I spent watching this movie was worth it. Take the movie for what it is and stop wishing it were something else!To sum up, if you like Christmas movies, have a sense of humor, and your standards aren't set so high that you probably shouldn't be wasting your precious time on an unintelligent holiday comedy in the first place, you should like this movie just fine! Oh wait, you also must not be a Ben Affleck hater! I realize they're apparently a rare breed...Anyway, I will suggest that if you're interested in seeing this, you probably should rent it before you buy it because it may be one of those movies that you only need to see once. Personally, I plan on buying it because I think it will make a great addition to my Christmas movie collection.

2012-04-22 12:25:58

Warning - From the theater to DVD in less than 9 weeks!

I am absolutely done watching Ben Affleck movies. He has to be the worst actor earning a Hollywood mega-million paycheck over the past decade. I made it through "Jersey Girl" only because of Liv Tyler. However, "Surviving Christmas" (2004) was just torture. James Gandalfini was okay, but does he ever play any role out of his "Tony Soprano" character? Christina Applegate (who is her agent and when will she be in a great movie?) was good, but it just looked like she wasn't into this movie. I like Catherine O'Hara a ton ("Best In Show", A" Mighty Wind", "Home Alone", "Beetlejuice" and the old SCTV), and she was simply over the top in some scenes (in a garrish way) and dare I say I didn't like her acting in this movie. Affleck's acting is pitifully canned and he just isn't convincing. ** FACT: This movie has the shortest period of time (less than nine weeks) between its theatrical debut and release on DVD/Video than any other major release film in Hollywood history. *** FACT: The production was shot without a complete script. Per Gandolfini, "much of the film was improvised". What's that tell you? This movie should've ended in the first 20 minutes when Gandolfini's character hit Affleck's character over the head with a snow shovel. 91 minutes of pure drudgery.

Jami Bernard 2012-04-21 19:11:35

Not since Scrooge got a look at Christmas future have the holidays seemed so shudderingly depressing.

Laner 2012-04-19 12:56:31

Why does Affleck keep getting roles?

Seriously - has he done anything worthwhile since Good Will Hunting?Even in that movie he was out-funnied by his brother Casey. Highprofile girlfriends and a poor hair transplant will only take you sofar, and Benny is one or two big flops away from being nothing morethan a question in a future edition of Trivial Pursuit.This movie was trash - pure trash. $11 million in BO receipts and aquick transfer to DVD is the best this movie could do? How sad. And thesupporting cast wasn't very good either. James Gandolfini can't seem toshake his Sopranos character, and Christina Applegate needs betterroles than this or Anchorman if she hopes to ever shed the stigma ofbeing Kelly Bundy.

Eric Harrison 2012-04-18 23:58:38

Is it just me, or does anyone else think it odd Dreamworks is releasing a Christmas movie before Halloween?

Marjorie Baumgarten 2012-04-17 20:25:32

If one were to dwell on the logic of the story, the film would crumble.

2012-04-17 08:43:32

Surviving Christmas

This review is from: Surviving Christmas (DVD) Surviving Christmas is an excellent movie to look at. I have seen the movie before. I liked it so much I decided to buy it.