Surviving Christmas
DreamWorks Distribution | Release Date: October 22, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
19
METASCORE
Overwhelming dislike based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
6
Negative:
22
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
63
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
As light, fluffy, cockle-warming holiday entertainment, this thing is pretty sweet. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
There are a few amusing moments, helped by subdued performances from Affleck and Gandolfini, but this is no "Bad Santa" despite its obvious ambition to play similar holiday tricks. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
This is pseudo-cynical comedy, however, not social satire. All the sharp corners are smoothed over and what's left is little more than a big screen sitcom. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Another go-round for the premise of an overaged kid insinuating himself into a stranger's family. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
Just like many real-life holiday get-togethers with the family, this comedy starts out pleasantly enough but degenerates into awkwardness and furtive watch-checking to see how much longer you have to suffer before you can leave. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Cynical yet mildly amusing Yuletide-season comedy. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Affleck's psychotic enthusiasm aside, no one seems to be having a good time, and the ill will becomes infectious. Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Can't decide whether it wants to be a black comedy, dumb farce, or sentimental sit-com. Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Some screwball moments elicit a chuckle or two, but the script is weak and the characterizations clichéd. Read full review
30
The New York TimesStephen Holden
As you watch the comedy lurch along, the woozy, sinking sensation it produces suggests a movie slapped together after the consumption of far too many gallons of that spiked eggnog. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Absolutely awesome in its relentless mediocrity. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
A dismally formulaic hodgepodge of crude humor and wan attempts to tug at the heart. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesDarel Jevens
Pulling off a premise this creepy and cockamamie would require a lot of skill, far more than can be found in the director of "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" and the writers of "A Very Brady Sequel." Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Remember that the director, the renowned Mike Mitchell, is the genius who helmed "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo," and be sufficiently generous to accept that such a high level of excellence is hard to sustain. Read full review
25
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Ben Affleck's goose is cooked with Surviving Christmas, a movie that makes "Gigli" look like one of the crowning moments in his career. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Everything about it is manufactured -- the emotions are false, the sentiments are phony, and the story is a construction of mirthless silliness. It's a product, not a creative expression. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Bad enough to make even James Gandolfini and Catherine O'Hara seem dull. Read full review
20
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
Wrenches paltry giggles and cheap warmth from a screenplay that makes "Son in Law" seem like Sam Shepard. But wretched Affleck is the real liability. Read full review
20
VarietyBrian Lowry
An almost mirth-free, poorly conceived comedy destined to offer Ben Affleck bashers satchels full of new ammunition. Read full review
20
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Affleck may finally have found a use for his obnoxious personality, because Drew is amazingly annoying. Read full review
20
EmpireDan Jolin
As it is, an unbearably irritating, shouty, gurning Affleck takes the anaemic script and injects it with strychnine. Read full review
12
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
It's the sort of stupid swill that gets spewed out by a studio committee, slapped together without a brain, a heart, or a good idea about where to put a camera or when to cut a scene. Read full review
10
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
It's screen comedy at the end of its tether, Capra-corn gone rancid. Read full review
10
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
A lame comic premise, a tiresome-bordering-on-obnoxious protagonist and a script devoid of humor is a lot to overcome for any movie, and Surviving Christmas is not the one to do it. Read full review
10
NewsweekDavid Ansen
The folks who served up this formulaic swill seem to think comedy grants you a free pass from credibility. Our lonely hero's artificial Yuletide enthusiasm is more than odd: it's not recognizably human. Read full review
0
Village VoiceJessica Winter
This ghastly comedy emits the subliminal whine of a sucking chest wound. Read full review
0
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
There are no survivors here. Read full review
0
New York PostLou Lumenick
A crass, shrill and laughless disaster of a holiday comedy with a desperately mugging Ben Affleck that should be banned under the Geneva Convention. Read full review
0
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
So bad you're nostalgic for "Gigli." So painful you need an epidural. So mindless you'll lose yours wondering, "What were they thinking?" Read full review
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