IF YOU MISS IT, CONSIDER IT A GIFT.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic THE DISMAL October holiday offering, ``Surviving Christmas'' opens with a montage of yuletide cliches, accompanied by Andy Williams
``Surviving Christmas''? In October? Why not? With a movie this bad, you can sure the DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. will be out before Christmas, just in time to give to someone that you really, really don't like. The movie stars everybody's favorite bad actor, Ben Affleck, playing an insufferably in·suf·fer·a·ble adj. Difficult or impossible to endure; intolerable. in·suf  fer·a·bly adv. needy advertising executive who bribes the family living in his childhood home into letting him spend the holidays with them. The idea is that Drew (Affleck) will exorcise the ghosts of Christmases past, a subject he hates discussing, which means there will most assuredly be a Big Revelation in the third act. That is bad news in and of itself, since you spend an hour waiting for the inevitable scene in which Ben Affleck cries. What's worse is that this schizophrenic film veers wildly in tone between unfunny, poorly executed farce and treacle treacle: see molasses. that panders to people who wept at the end of ``Home Alone.'' And, let me tell you, you've never really had your heart warmed until the director of ``Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo'' sticks a hot poker to your eye sockets and commands your tear ducts to let fly. Why hire the ``Deuce Bigalow'' guy to make a movie about True Meaning of Christmas? Even more of a puzzler is casting Affleck in a role that needs an actor with comic chops and a believable vulnerability. There's not a true moment in this movie, save for scene in which Affleck says, ``I could sell whale steaks to Greenpeace.'' How else do explain this guy's acting career? Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com SURVIVING CHRISTMAS - One star (PG-13: sexual content, language and a brief drug reference) Starring: Ben Affleck, James Gandolfini James R. Gandolfini (born September 18, 1961) is a three-time Emmy award winning American actor known for multifaceted portrayals of conscientious yet often inherently sinister characters. , Christina Applegate Christina Applegate (born November 25, 1971) is an American Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated actress, particularly well-known for playing the very attractive, promiscuous, dim-witted Kelly Bundy on the Fox television network sitcom Married… with Children. , Catherine O'Hara Catherine Anne O'Hara (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian-American actress and comedian. She is well known for her comedy work on SCTV and the roles as Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice, Kate McCallister in Home Alone, Sally in . Director: Mike Mitchell Mike Mitchell may refer to:
Running time: 1 hr. 32 min. Playing: Wide release. In a nutshell: Wait for the DVD. For a movie this bad, it should be available before this coming Christmas. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Ben Affleck plays an executive who tries way too hard to exorcise ghosts of holidays past in ``Surviving Christmas.'' |
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