MovieChat Forums > Surviving Christmas (2004) Discussion > It's a lot better than you'd think...

It's a lot better than you'd think...


If you're dismissing it because it looks bad, don't. I expected a crap movie when I went in to see this thing last year... but I wanted to see it anyway because I like Christmas comedies. Rent it some night and just give it a chance.

I suspect in 5-6 years this will become a regularly shown movie on TBS or something around the holidays and people will discover that it actually was not half-bad after all.

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true. i saw it on starz, and i laughed. it wasnt that bad.

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Why this movie is good? I know, Ben Affleck sucks. James Gandolfini is typecast as Tony Soprano. Christina Applegate is obnoxious.

But, it works. The twist in the end is lame, but I was laughing pretty hard throughout the entire movie.

Catch it on HBO, don't buy or rent. But do give it a shot.

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[deleted]

I skipped class watching this because I got so into it. It is funny and your pulling for ben and christina to get together.

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I have to agree. I would not consider it a holiday staple but I have seen much worse.

"You bet! Hit me on the slant!"

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i absolutely enjoyed this movie i thought it was really hilarious i watched it with my brother and we laughed at it as much as we did at dodgeball its not about how good it is it's a comedy movie its only made for people to laugh its the exact same as elf and all the other christmas comedies i thought it was good and it gets way too much harsh comments. & maybe it did so bad in the box office because it came out so early (october) & its a christmas film, around christmas time lots of people get into the christmas spirit i bet if it came out near christmas it would of did good.

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I think this movie got an unfair receiving because of the fact that no one liked Ben Affleck that year. Let's face it, all the movies he did that year were horrible (although I have yet to see JERSEY GIRL). So, the critics, as well as the rest of America, wrote this movie off as "another bad Affleck movie".

But, I have to say that this assumption of Affleck's incompetence is highly harmful to this film. (I, for one, think Ben Aflleck is a good actor with undeniable charm.) This is a good, funny, heartwarming Christmas movie that the whole family can enjoy (well, most of the family, anyway).

Just because we're told or encouraged by society not to like something for whatever reason, doesn't mean we won't like it when it really comes down to it.

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[deleted]

i like Affleck in comedic roles. although he is much better at playing d!ckheads.

i do like this movie though. and the people ive got to watch it w/me have enjoyed it as well. its not the best film out there, but it has its moments and is a nice little time waster. now for a truely awful movies, watch anything Uwe Boll does. i finally saw House of the Dead and was awestruck at how bad it was. its not even a so bad its good type flick. its just flat out pathetic. i honestly think i could ahve done better.

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Yup, House of the Dead definitely sucks! I rate it as one of the worst films I've ever seen, and I've seen some doozies!

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I agree. I think after 10-15 years, people will discover this movie, particularly the next generation, and they'll love it. TBS will air this. It's not "It's A Wonderful Life". But I remember that that movie wasn't well recieved when it came out either. It took nearly 30 years for that movie to finally catch on. I'm not comparing the two b/c that's impossible. But people will discover this film. Almost anyone who I know that has seen this film actually did like it. And I'm going to try to find it on dvd before the holiday season is over.

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Yep! I Totally agree!

I love Xmas comedies and this was enjoyable.

I think all that J-Lo/Ben stuff was going on at the time and everyone was just sick of Ben for a while. I have to admit, that I'm not a big fan of his, but I found him to be very likeable in this movie and I thought he did a great job overall.


"I'm packin' Smacky!" - Bucky

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Are you psychic? TNT is airing this NOW in 2014, 9 years after your original post. LOL~~!

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I got the DVD from Amazon last month. Have watched it three or four times since receiving it. I first rented the movie in 2006, then saw it again last year on TBS. Really got into it after seeing then.

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Yeah, it is not as bad as everybody says.

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Yes all and all a pretty good movie!....It gets a bit stupid near the end but hey its much better then a lot of other movies that folks rave about being so great (IE) Elf !

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wow it's on now. I was wondering what it was so I searched and saw this... Pretty cool

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