Surviving Christmas
Christmas, Comedy
DreamWorks Home Ent.  (2004) 91 mins PG-13

4.9 (6,039 votes)
It's madness, mischief and mayhem when rich executive Drew Latham (Ben Affleck) decides to rent himself a family for the holidays. Tired of spending Christmas alone, Drew makes the Valcos (James Gandolfini, Christina Applegate and Catherine O'Hara) an offer they should have refused. Now their annoying guest and his outrageous demands are turning their Noel into a nightmare in this hilarious slapstick comedy that puts the fun in family dysfunction....

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Cast and Crew
Ben Affleck  ......  Drew Latham
James Gandolfini  ......  Tom Valco
Christina Applegate  ......  Alicia Valco
Catherine O'Hara  ......  Christine Valco
Josh Zuckerman  ......  Brian Valco
Bill Macy  ......  Doo-Dah
Director  .....  Mike Mitchell
Producer  .....  Betty Thomas; Jenno Topping
Writer  .....  Deborah Kaplan; Harry Elfont
Notes
Goofs:
Errors in geography: There are no mountain ranges, such as the one depicted, within hundreds of miles of Chicago. (more)

Trivia:
The original Christmas 2003 release date was pushed back ten months, to avoid competing with another Ben Affleck film, Paycheck (2003). Because of this, there's a 2003 calendar hanging in Brian's bedroom, near the door. (more)

Filming Locations:
Chicago, Illinois, USA (more)

Quotes:
[first lines]
Drew Latham: Folks, my firm's done a tremendous amount of marketing research and we've discovered two critical things, one; most Americans feel that Christmas is a time for family. Two; most Americans feel that in order to stand being around their family, for even one or two days, they need to swill as much alcohol as humanly possible.
(more)

Awards:
3 nominations (more)