Surviving Christmas (2004)

Oh they do keep churning them out -- those seasonal movies intended to instil a feel-good holiday spirit; and the harder they try, the less they seem to work.  In this one, obnoxious millionaire Ben Affleck tries to buy himself a family Christmas by returning to his childhood home and bribing the current occupants to play Mommy and Daddy in exchange for a great wad of cash.  The reluctant role-players are Catherine O'Hara and James Gandolfini who are expected to provide all the Christmas experiences he never actually had as a child, including a grandfather figure call Doo-dah.  Cue for general nausea in the viewer!  Along with their computer-porn obsessed teenaged son and visiting, sceptical older daughter played by Christine Applegate, he manages to just about ruin both their holiday and that of his would-be girlfriend and in-laws -- all of course before the expected, but 100% unlikely, happy ending.  The critics hated this picture, primarily for Ben Affleck.  I do not agree that he is the great Woodentop that people make out; I just think he is a reasonably able actor who has made some spectacularly bad role choices.  (I will be most curious to see his latest picture "Hollywoodland" for which he actually got a best actor nod in Cannes).  But back to this film: the real problem was that none of the cast were overly adept at playing comedy here, despite O'Hara and Applegate having suitable credentials.  Fortunately there were the occasional felicities which at least prevented my switching off in total disgust.