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www.nypost.com - : New York Post - There isn't any real story - just the obnoxious Drew putting a strain on the Valcos' already unraveling marriage by bribing them to participate in holiday cheer in a series of thuddingly lame episodes. When their grown daughter (Christina Applegate) shows up unexpectedly for the holidays, she rightly pegs Drew for a psychotic. But somehow she falls for him after Drew tells a thoroughly unconvincing sob story about how his father left when he was 4 years old, and how he spent every Christmas at the diner where his mother was working overtime. Nothing else in this shoddily made flick - which constantly sets up scenes that appear to have been left on the cutting room floor - rings remotely true, even for a comic fantasy. more...
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F
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www.hollywoodreporter.com - : Hollywood Reporter - Affleck plays a character so ill-conceived and unpleasant that the movie stands little chance of gaining comic traction. Drew Latham is ... well, it's not clear who or what he is other than a very rich, cynical young man, apparently highly successful in advertising, though judging from his performance in a pitch meeting, it is not clear to what he owes his success. more...
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D
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movie-reviews.colossus.net - : ReelViews - Surviving Christmas starts out with more edge and promise than the bulk of the picture delivers. For ten minutes, it looks like we might be okay in director Mike Mitchell's hands. The opening credits unfold as Andy Williams sings the Christmas standard, ''The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.'' While Williams warbles, we see men and women struggle with some of the less enjoyable aspects of the season, culminating with a grandmotherly type turning on a gas oven and sticking her head inside. Cut to the offices of ad exec Drew Latham (Ben Affleck), who is offering the following kernel of wisdom: ''The only way to get through the holidays is to drink spiked eggnog.'' more...
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C
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metromix.chicagotribune.com - : Chicago Tribune - Thinking on his feet like a seasoned ad pitcher, Drew decides to return to his childhood home (in Lincolnwood, spelled Lincoln Wood) and strike a deal with the family living in his old house: $250,000 for Tom and Christine Valco (Gandolfini and O'Hara) to pretend to be Drew's real family for the holidays and create contractually obligated Christmas cheer. As Christine says, ''I'm faking it anyway, so might as well get paid.'' more...
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B-
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Critic Reviews
