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Surviving Christmas Play Trailer

Surviving Christmas (2004)

tomatometer

7

Average Rating: 3/10
Reviews Counted: 111
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 103

Surviving Christmas is unpleasant characters attacking each other for 90 minutes before delivering a typical, hollow anti-consumerist message

6

Average Rating: 2.9/10
Critic Reviews: 32
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 30

Surviving Christmas is unpleasant characters attacking each other for 90 minutes before delivering a typical, hollow anti-consumerist message

audience

34

liked it
Average Rating: 2.6/5
User Ratings: 27,972

My Rating

Movie Info

Directed by Mike Mitchell, Surviving Christmas finds Drew Latham (Ben Affleck) uneager to spend another lonely Christmas in his own home. Longing for holidays past, Drew travels to his childhood home intending to relive the experience of a family Christmas -- unfortunately, his family no longer lives there. This represents only a small snafu to Drew, who offers the Valco patriarch and his wife (Sopranos star James Gandolfini and Catherine O'Hara) a huge amount of money if they consent to pretend

PG-13,

Comedy, Romance

Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont

Dec 21, 2004

$11.2M

Dreamworks - Official Site External Icon

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Surviving Christmas Trailer & Photos

Critic Reviews for Surviving Christmas

All Critics (112) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (8) | Rotten (103) | DVD (12)

Pique on earth and ill will toward men permeate this mirthless comedy.

March 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

March 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Associated Press
David Germain
Associated Press
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The moral is that money can indeed buy happiness.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out
Jessica Winter
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Surviving Christmas is about as funny as a rubber crutch for Tiny Tim.

October 22, 2004 Full Review Source: Toronto Star
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There's a lot to not buy in Surviving Christmas. I recommend not buying.

October 22, 2004 Full Review Source: Seattle Times
Erik Lundegaard
Seattle Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Maybe the worst thing that can be said for Surviving Christmas is that it doesn't succeed even on its humble level of aspiration.

October 22, 2004 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Surviving Christmas is a mediocre ninety-minute sit-com; if you're looking for wit and humor, stay away.

March 30, 2011 Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net
Joshua Starnes
ComingSoon.net

You'll be lucky if you survive this dumb movie.

December 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Nell Minow
Common Sense Media

Ben Affleck needs to stop making movies.

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | Comments (2)
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

You may not survive watching it.

December 30, 2006 Full Review Source: 3BlackChicks Review
Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel
3BlackChicks Review

Despite the talent involved, this fails to raise so much as a smile, let alone laughs and Christmas cheer.

April 1, 2006 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine
Empire Magazine

If you thought the Ron Howard Grinch movie was the worst excuse for a holiday movie in recent memory, then look out: this one's worse.

January 15, 2005 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com

A colossal turkey.

December 4, 2004 Full Review Source: ViewLondon
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

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.

November 30, 2004 Full Review Source: BBC
Stella Papamichael
BBC

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 .

November 30, 2004 Full Review Source: Bangitout.com
Jordan Hiller
Bangitout.com

Affleck gives one of the clammiest, most panicked performances I've ever seen. The movie is drenched in his flop-sweat.

November 8, 2004 Full Review
Sean Burns
Philadelphia Weekly

The premise has potential, as does the casting, but the script is so mind-numbingly lazy that it insults its audience at every turn.

November 7, 2004 Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

With the release of this wretched film, star Ben Affleck takes one more ragged step in what seems his death march from leading man to celebrity game show guest.

November 5, 2004 Full Review Source: Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)
Thomas Peyser
Style Weekly (Richmond, VA) Source: Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)

Easily the worst Christmas movie of all time, and a surefire contender for the worst film of 2004.

November 2, 2004 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Ben Affleck's Christmas "comedy" is a misfire under the mistletoe, even with a germ of a classic tale hidden under the ugly wrapping.

November 1, 2004 Full Review Source: Netflix
James Rocchi
Netflix
View all critic reviews (112)

Audience Reviews for Surviving Christmas

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Nothing short of awful. When picking a film I guess the actor has to first read the script and then read the pay cheque. I can only imagine that the pay cheque made more sense than the script. Truly awful, and that's saying something for a Christmas film! It makes absolutely no sense what so ever, isn't funny and doesn't even have a cheesy moral. Rubbish.
December 19, 2012
SirPant
Anthony Lawrie

Super Reviewer

Surviving Christmas has got to be one of the worst Christmas films that I've seen. With a terrible cast, and directing, this film fails delivering laughs and ends up being a forgettable film that is simply not worth your time. This film has very poor acting, a bad story that just isn't interesting. I really didn't enjoy the film, and I thought it missed the mark in many ways. The film could have been good, but it simply doesn't have anything really good going on-onscreen. I'm not a big fan of Affleck's work, and I really hated him here. He really brought down the film, and that wasn't hard because the film was poorly written and wasn't enjoyable. There are far better Christmas films out there; however this one just fails and ends up being quite forgettable. Don't expect anything good with one. As a Holiday film, this one fails and doesn't really have stand out comedic elements. This is a poorly constructed comedy that is forgettable, and as a Christmas film, it fails. The film definitely doesn't have anything memorable about. This is just a bad film with a cast that are wooden and can't really turn the material into something good. This is one of the worst Christmas films that I've seen, and it doesn't make you laugh, in the end it just annoys you at how stupid this film is. James Gandolfini was superb in the Sopranos, but here he's awful. Same goes for Affleck, although I don't like him, he was great in The Town. However here is definitely a perfect example as to why he often misses the mark as an actor. Avoid this film, and watch Christmas Vacation instead.
July 3, 2012
TheDudeLebowski65
Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski

Super Reviewer

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