Surviving Christmas

Since Ben Affleck usually appears to have so much trouble remembering his lines, it seems quite foolhardy that the makers of Surviving Christmas actually begin production without a completed script. Remarkably, however, Affleck does better than expected in Surviving Christmas, a wobbly, if not entirely disagreeable, holiday comedy.

Affleck plays Drew, a cocky ad man whose Christmas plans fall asunder when his girlfriend decides to split. At a crossroads in his life, he heads back to his childhood home to find it is owned by the Valcos, a dysfunctional bunch, headed by the gruff Tom (Gandolfini). After a bit of bribery ($250,000's worth), he convinces the family, which includes wife Christine (O'Hara), son (Zuckerman) and daughter Alicia (Applegate), to take him in and make it his best Christmas ever.

About as hit and miss as movies get, Surviving Christmas never manages to hit a comedic rhythm. Careering wildly in tone, the filmmakers seem convinced that imposing a shape on the film would limit its appeal. It's infuriatingly inconsistent and lacks depth, but Surviving Christmas occasionally stumbles across the odd nugget of comedy. Which almost sounds like a compliment for a movie starring Ben Affleck.