Surviving Christmas
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''Surviving Christmas'' is a 2004 American
romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...
film directed by Mike Mitchell, written by Harry Elfont, Deborah Kaplan, Jennifer Ventimilia, and Joshua Sternin, based on a story by Elfont and Kaplan. It stars
Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globes. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educatio ...
,
James Gandolfini James John Gandolfini (; September 18, 1961June 19, 2013) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Tony Soprano, the Italian-American American Mafia, Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007 ...
, Christina Applegate, and Catherine O'Hara. The film was panned by critics and performed poorly at the box office, as it earned $15.1 million worldwide against a budget of $45 million. At the Golden Raspberry Awards, the film received nominations for Worst Picture, Worst Actor, and Worst Screenplay, but won none.


Plot

Just before Christmas, wealthy advertising executive Drew Latham surprises his girlfriend Missy with first-class tickets to
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
, but she is horrified that he would want to spend Christmas away from his family. Citing the fact that Drew has never even introduced her to his family, she concludes that he will never get serious about their relationship and dumps him. Drew has his assistant send her a Cartier bracelet to apologize. Desperate not to spend Christmas alone, Drew calls all his contacts to find a place to stay on Christmas, but he is not close enough to anyone to be invited. Drew tracks down Missy's therapist Dr. Freeman at the airport, hoping for a therapy session. The hurried doctor tells him to list all of his grievances and burn them at his childhood home, which is now occupied by the Valcos. As Drew is acting suspiciously when he sets his grievances on fire, Tom Valco sneaks up behind him and knocks him out with a shovel. When he comes to, they let him come in to look around. He is thrilled to see his old room, so he impetuously offers Tom $250,000 to let him spend Christmas with them. He accepts, and Drew's lawyer draws up a contract that requires the Valcos to pose as his family. The next day, Drew forces the family to go out and buy a tree together, requiring Tom to wear a Santa cap in public. While they are trimming the tree, their daughter Alicia arrives for the holidays and is stunned by Drew's presence. He suggests that she could portray the maid since she is an unexpected addition to the scenario. Drew writes a script for the family to read at the table at dinner. He hires Saul, a local actor to play the part of his grandfather, whom he calls Doo-Dah, and Tom agrees to let Saul stay with them for the holidays for an extra $25,000. Drew takes Alicia and her brother Brian sledding the next day. After crashing at the bottom of a hill, he moves in to kiss Alicia, who sneezes instead. As they recover at home from their colds, Alicia shares a childhood memory with Drew about an old tree that was coated in ice during a storm. Tom asks Drew to leave because he plans to divorce his wife Christine, but Drew encourages the couple to indulge themselves. Tom buys a Chevelle SS, which he had in high school, and Christine goes to a photographer for some glamour shots. Drew takes Alicia to the old tree of her childhood, which he has covered in ice again. The gesture touches her, but he overdoes it, bringing in a full pageant production to surround the tree. Disgusted by his lack of restraint, Alicia demands that he leave, which he decides to do, and he ends their agreement and is set to write them a check. Meanwhile, Missy is won over by the bracelet, and when Drew's assistant informs her that he is spending Christmas with his family, she phones Drew to tell him she's outside the house with her parents. Drew quickly promises the Valcos an extra $75,000 if they keep playing along for the evening, and they agree. The visit between the two families steadily descends into chaos, culminating with everyone seeing Christine's glamour shots manipulated into pornography on Brian's computer. Missy's parents storm out, and Drew informs her that their relationship is over, as Alicia had kissed him a bit earlier. Drew tells Alicia the truth about his family: his father left them when he was just four, and his mother, a waitress, who would give him an adult stack of pancakes on Christmas until he was 18, died when he was in college. Drew returns to his apartment to spend Christmas alone. Tom visits him to collect his money, and the two decide to go watch Saul perform in the local production of ''
A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...
'' as he'd given the whole family tickets. At the play Tom and Christine decide not to divorce. Drew and Alicia make up outside the theater, and everyone then eats in the diner where Drew's mother worked double shifts to make extra money at Christmastime.


Cast


Production

In May 2001, it was announced that
Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globes. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS educatio ...
was in talks to star in ''Surviving Christmas'' when the project was at
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
.


Release


Box office

''Surviving Christmas'' opened theatrically on October 22, 2004, in 2,750 venues, earning $4,441,356 in its opening weekend and ranking seventh in the North American box office and second among the week's new releases. The film ended its run on November 23, 2004, with $11,663,156 domestically and $3,457,644 overseas for a worldwide total of $15,120,800.


Home media

The film was released on DVD on December 21, 2004, two months after its theatrical release.


Critical response

Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale. Writing in ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'', Lisa Schwarzbaum said, "Really, critics and audiences ought to turn thoughts and wallets discreetly away from ''Surviving Christmas'', ignoring the sight as if Santa had just stepped in droppings from Donner and Blitzen." In ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'',
Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...
concluded, "This is a film that perversely refuses to trust its own comic instincts. Perhaps out of a fear of not having enough jokes, it throws in extra subplots and unnecessary characters to keep the pace frantic, and the action muddled."


Accolades

The film was nominated for three Golden Raspberry Awards at the 2005 ceremony: * Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture (lost to '' Catwoman'') * Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor (Affleck; lost to
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
in '' Fahrenheit 9/11'') * Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screenplay (lost to ''Catwoman'')


See also

*
List of Christmas films Many Christmas stories have been Christmas film, adapted to feature films and TV specials, and have been broadcast and repeated many times on television. Since the popularization of home video in the 1980s, these films are sold and re-sold every ...


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Surviving Christmas 2000s American films 2000s Christmas comedy films 2000s Christmas films 2000s English-language films 2000s Spanish-language films 2004 films 2004 romantic comedy films American Christmas comedy films American romantic comedy films DreamWorks Pictures films English-language Christmas comedy films English-language romantic comedy films Films about dysfunctional families Films directed by Mike Mitchell Films scored by Randy Edelman Films set in Chicago Films shot in California Films shot in Chicago Films shot in Los Angeles