Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
A wealthy executive, Drew Latham (Ben Affleck) has no close relationships and becomes nostalgic for his childhood home as Christmas approaches. When he visits the house and finds another family living there, he offers the residents, Tom Valco (James Gandolfini) and his wife, Christine (Catherine O'Hara), a large sum of money to pretend they are his parents. Soon Drew tests the couple's patience, and, when their daughter, Alicia (Christina Applegate), arrives, things get increasingly tense.
Surviving Christmas is a formulaic holiday romcom that squanders a capable cast. The premise has some potential quirk but devolves into predictable beats—lonely rich man finds warmth and love through a surrogate family. Ben Affleck's performance is grating and over-the-top, though Gandolfini and O'Hara bring genuine comic chops that elevate scenes above the material. Cinematography is bland TV-movie level work with no visual ambition. The concept of paying strangers to be your family has mild novelty but is executed in the most generic way possible. The ending resolves exactly as expected with no surprises. A disappointing misfire that was critically savaged on release and has not been rehabilitated by time.