Surviving Christmas

The nightmare before Christmas: Ben Affleck's latest dud arrives at the wrong holiday

By Mike Prevatt

The title of the latest Ben Affleck star vehicle is Surviving Christmas, which is ironic, given that it may not even endure beyond Halloween. Of course, being released nine weeks before the holiday it's themed after doesn't help matters, but then again, this film has been slotted for countless different release dates, going all the way back to 2002. It seems Dreamworks is resigned to finally release it, and if audiences are smart, they'll be resigned to skip it. For not even the participation of James Gandolfini ("The Sopranos") can counter its trite awfulness.

Affleck is Drew, a successful but lonely marketing executive. He has no family to take his girlfriend (Jennifer Morrison) to for Christmas, so he decides to go back to his childhood home and reminisce. Upon his arrival, he's non-fatally whacked by current homeowner Tom Valco (Gandolfini). When Drew comes to, he succeeds in "renting" the Valcos so he has a family to spend Christmas with. However, he's more than the Valcos bargained for, given his specific whims and overzealous holiday spirit. It doesn't take long for Drew to threaten to tear the already barely-together clan apart, even if he occasionally brings out the best in each individual member.

The lure here is not the premise, though--it's the two stars, and they're not enough. Affleck's role calls for him to be annoying, and though he does that well, he's treading on Adam Sandler territory, and yet his exasperating demeanor isn't endearing enough to sell the flick's holiday schmaltz. Gandolfini, typecast here as the no-nonsense crank, is merely taking a paycheck, because he has little by way of dialogue to work with. As for comedic value, gags involving Christmas lights and extreme sledding feel lifted from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Now that's a holiday flick worth seeing before Thanksgiving.