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the audience applauded

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Underrated. Far from perfect but a really good, enjoyable movie nonetheless. Great chemistry between Applegate and Affleck, Affleck like you'll never see him again, enjoyable, but as he's far down the "Serious, Serious" road now, you'll not see him anywhere near this funny and goofy again. Fantastic supporting cast, Gandolfini is so good as the gruff Dad, O'Hara so perfect as the Mom and to Gandolfini's Dad, Macy as the granddad, and others, can't imagine a better cast. Really good lines peppered throughout, overlook the odd bit here and there and just an enjoyable hour and a half. Clearly there was some struggle during production to get this made, makes you wonder what it could have been, but also clearly why a good cast is so important, and what a great cast can do to save a movie even to the point of making it an enjoyable 90 minutes.

A pretty bad movie all in. The only thing that makes this at all watchable is the fact that it is a Christmas movie. Ben Affleck is just terrible -painful at times to watch, the rest of the cast (Gandolfini, Applegate, O'Hara) kind of makes up for him, and keeps things moving along but keep Affleck away from the comedy in the future. The story itself is also lame (a lonely successful man pays the owners of his childhood home to let him spend Christmas with them). Despite all the mediocre I did get a couple of big laughs, and I suppose the whole being with family and money can't buy happiness is in keeping with the season too. 12.13

Early on, Ben Affleck made a few entertaining pictures. Then he lapsed into a period where he made some real stinkers. Recently he has begun to come out of that period, and may yet again have a truly successful screen career.This film is not exactly a stinker, but it's like milk that is past the due date...not too far from going bad. If you expect a lot out of this flick, you'll probably be disappointed. Looks more like a TV movie from the Hallmark Channel than a big screen production...although at least a Hallmark television movie would have a little more heart to it. I watched this film on cable because the cable listing description described Affleck as "utterly charming" in this film...but it also had only 1 star...so I was prepared.There were possibilities here. A young ad exec has lost his sense of wonderment of Christmas and family, breaks up with his girl, and ends up looking forward to Christmas alone. He tries to find friends to share the holiday with him, but none want him. No wonder! Then he gets the idea from another minor acquaintance who also doesn't want him, to write his regrets on a piece of paper and then burn them at a place that was special to him. So he goes to the house he grew up in, gets clobbered by the low-class present owner (James Gandolfini), but ends up renting the family and house for an outrageous sum of money. Of course, the family is a bunch of weirdos and he even has to rent a grandfather. We learn that even as a child, Afflect had lousy and lonely Christmases. Of course, Affleck begins falling in love with a somewhat cynical (but at least realistic) Christina Applegate...perhaps the only actor in the film that showed some talent here. But this Affleck's girlfriend and her rich family shows up, and another whole set of somewhat predictable disasters occur.Affleck utterly charming here? I think not. Gandolfini shows the talent he did on cable drama? No.Okay, so I watched it once, but never again. There's just no...well, very little heart to this film. Someone decided they had to make a Christmas flick...they did...it failed...and this is the result. I'd rather meet one of Scrooge's ghosts than meet up with this film again.

This doesn't deserve neither the poor profits nor the evil reputation (released to DVD 9 weeks after its release !). True Ben Affleck is here but – surprisingly – it's not as bad as in other movies ! The story is simple with funny characters. It achieved a good balance between comedy and having a message. Though, the main problem remains in the script. Some weakness blemished it, especially in the second half with forced love story; between the lead and the family's daughter, making up situations between them through a snow ride that didn't complete, let alone unintelligible reconciliations between all at the end; the husband and wife, the lead and the daughter.So the climax is brittle to an extent weakens the final effect, but nothing could deny the cuteness of the characters, even if their details were improvised (as Gandolfini said once, critically!). I loved the opening credits with parodying the too happy Christmas's songs, with wicked dark sense that ridiculed as well as lamented our present days. The pace was talented. The situations, if a bit ribald, were comic. In fact there was distinct humor all over it; remember the fake dream that Affleck's character prepared then canceled in the nick of time; lovely cartoonish (in terms of cartoon; all the movie works as a Simpsons episode). And it's enough to say that I liked Affleck in a comedy, well, it's like saying I watched the devil in paradise !Overall, there was a comedy and a meaning. Both did survive eventually. And if this movie was called names, nominated for Razzies, then watch other Affleck's movies, and other Christmas's ones, to know how clever (Surviving Christmas) is. Then watch real BAD movies, from the same year, that didn't get any nomination for even one Razzie, such as Soul Plane, The Whole Ten Yards, The Ladykillers, Ocean's Twelve, The Village, and Napoleon Dynamite, to know how wronged (Surviving Christmas) is, also !