“Surviving Christmas” (DreamWorks Pictures)
Ben Affleck drives another nail into the coffin of his career with “Surviving Christmas,” a non-funny comedy that won’t be around when the holidays season starts. James Gandolfini and Catherine O’Hara share the dishonors in this “turkey” and help sink what ever light-hearted joy the movie might have engendered.
Affleck plays Drew Latham, a wealthy ad executive, who has no one to spend Christmas with and who can not face spending it alone. His spoiled girlfriend (Jennifer Morrison) has opted to head home to be with her parents but she doesn’t chose to bring Drew along. So Drew drives over to the house where he grew up and knocks on the door. It is opened by Tom Valco (Gandolfini).
After meeting Tom, his wife Christine (O’Hara), and their son Brian (Jonathan Zuckerman), Drew decides he wants to spend the holidays at his old homeplace. The Valcos are not inclined to let him do that, so he offers them two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the invitation and they readily comply.
All of this sounds funny when described, and it even looked funny in the trailer when it was previewed; but a glimpse of “Surviving” and the total effect of “Surviving” are two very different things. The comedic scenes when viewed all together are trite and boring, and the characters in the movie are never fully defined. There is no sense of time in this film. How many days actually did pass while Drew was with the Valcos Later after the film is over and you look back on the plot, nothing makes sense.
The one bright spot in the movie is Christina Applegate who plays Alicia, the Valcos daughter. She creates the one character who has some depth, but her lone effort is not enough to save the film. As good as she is, Affleck is that bad.
Maybe Ben ought to go back to dramas, like his friend Matt Damon is doing. Audiences just don’t seem to want him in comedies – or much of anything else lately. This movie isn’t as bad as “Gigli” but it is bad.
Gandolfini and O’Hara have to share some of the blame. They appear just to have shown up, walked through their roles, and taken the money and run. Both of these people are super talented but you don’t see that here. They are ordinary to say the least.
The movie is rated PG-13 for profanity and mild sexual innuendoes.
The good news for audiences is this film will not spoil your Christmas; because the bad news for the film is it will be out of theaters before the turkey hits the table for Thanksgiving. American audiences know spoiled goods when they see them.
I scored “Surviving Christmas” a ho-ho-ho and off you go 4 out of 10.
