Surviving Christmas

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Surviving Christmas

PG-13

Released Oct 22, 2004

1h 30m

Holiday

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

8%

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116 Reviews

30%

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25,000+ Ratings

A wealthy executive, Drew Latham (Ben Affleck) has no close relationships and becomes nostalgic for his childhood home as Christmas approaches. When he visits the house and finds another family living there, he offers the residents, Tom Valco (James Gandolfini) and his wife, Christine (Catherine O'Hara), a large sum of money to pretend they are his parents. Soon Drew tests the couple's patience, and, when their daughter, Alicia (Christina Applegate), arrives, things get increasingly tense.

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Critics Consensus

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

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

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

Rated: 1/5

Dec 28, 2010

Full Review

J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

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

Mar 5, 2007

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David Germain

Associated Press

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.

Mar 5, 2007

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...erratic yet mostly watchable...

Rated: 2.5/4

Dec 31, 2021

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Eddie Harrison

The List

Tasteless, miserable and utterly flaccid, Surviving Christmas truly lives up to its reputation as the last turkey in the shop.

Rated: 1/5

Apr 23, 2019

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

In 2003, moviegoers received a gift in the form of Bad Santa; the following year, they got a lump of coal in the shape of a Bad Movie.

Rated: 1.5/4

Dec 29, 2018

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Dani G

This is the worst acting performance I've ever seen from Ben Affleck, and that's a lot to say. And considering he is the main character, all the other things in the movie just went downhill. And if you add the fact that they "improvised" much of the script while they were filming....

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

12/28/24

Full Review

Jonathan H

Ben Affleck is laughably bad in this movie. It is definitely one of his worst performances. He can’t stop grinning for some reason. The premise of this film is fairly absurd, and even if you suspend your disbelief for the sake of the story, almost every character is incredibly annoying and unlikable. I watched this movie at Christmas time, just taking a random chance. Sometimes you just choose the wrong movie to watch and that was this movie. It will be the one and only time I ever watch this film.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

12/27/24

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Pat M

Watching James Gandolfini and Christina Applegate glower in this absurd situation is worth several chuckles. There are so, so many worse Christmas movies with less novel premises. Admittedly, the main character's behavior makes no sense even if we assume he's somewhere on the spectrum. Other people's reaction is where the laughs are. The closest comparison to this plot is The Man Who Came to Dinner, with a family forced to play host to an intruder for the holidays or lose a lot of money. It has its moments

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/26/24

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Audience Member

One of my two favorite Christmas movies of all time, I Love it!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/24/24

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DL W

It was cheesy but entertaining. I didn’t expect much. Reminds me of Vacation movies.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/24/24

Full Review

Michael Z

I don't know, after hate-watching so many terrible holiday movies, for whatever reason, I kind of enjoyed this one. The plot is rather unbelievable, but what holiday movie plot isn't?? Catherine O'Hara is always wonderful, and I'm a sucker for any Ben Affleck flick. If they had a star rating system for only holiday flicks, this would've received 3 1/2 of 'em. Merry Christmas :)

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

12/19/24

Full Review

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Mike Mitchell

Director

Ben Affleck

Drew Latham

James Gandolfini

Tom Valco

Christina Applegate

Alicia Valco

Catherine O'Hara

Christine Valco

Josh Zuckerman

Brian Valco

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Surviving Christmas: Official Clip - Who Are You Renting For New Year's?

1:57

Surviving Christmas: Official Clip - Worst Christmas Ever

2:10

Surviving Christmas: Official Clip - Role Playing

2:11

Surviving Christmas: Official Clip - A Lifetime of Lonely Christmases

2:04

Surviving Christmas: Official Clip - There Was No Real Family

2:11

Surviving Christmas: Official Clip - Fiji Time

2:13

Surviving Christmas: Official Clip - Contractually Obliged

2:05

Surviving Christmas: Official Clip - Burning My Grievances

2:10

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Surviving Christmas: Trailer 1

2:15

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Synopsis

A wealthy executive, Drew Latham (Ben Affleck) has no close relationships and becomes nostalgic for his childhood home as Christmas approaches. When he visits the house and finds another family living there, he offers the residents, Tom Valco (James Gandolfini) and his wife, Christine (Catherine O'Hara), a large sum of money to pretend they are his parents. Soon Drew tests the couple's patience, and, when their daughter, Alicia (Christina Applegate), arrives, things get increasingly tense.

Director: Mike Mitchell
Producer: Betty Thomas, Jenno Topping
Screenwriter: Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont
Distributor: DreamWorks SKG
Production Co: DreamWorks SKG
Rating: PG-13 (Language|Brief Drug References|Sexual Content)
Genre: Holiday, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 22, 2004, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 26, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $11.2M
Runtime: 1h 30m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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