Surviving Christmas

Directed by Mike Mitchell; starring Ben Affleck and Christina Applegate
This film was a lot funnier than I expected. Quite often with Christmas films they are far too predictable and the jokes pass by without a flicker of a smile on your face. But this one does have its laugh-out-loud moments, along with the sentiment that you’d expect.
Drew Latham played by Ben Affleck visits his childhood home as part of his therapy, but ends up paying the family who currently live there, to become his family. This whole process does go too far though with all his demands – it stops being remotely realistic at that point. But it gets back on track and ends up with the soppy resolution of all the problems that he causes.
The whereabouts of his own family is a bit of a mystery until the end. When his girlfriend at the beginning of the film wants him to spend more time with his family, and Drew doesn’t, you assume they must be dead. So why doesn’t he tell his girlfriend this? Well, I then assumed something far more interesting than that must have happened, and we have to wait till the very end to find out. Well it was false suspense, because as it turned out, they are actually dead, and I don’t think it’s spoiling much for telling you that! Well I’m sorry, but that’s just bad writing. If the guy and the girl are close enough to spend Christmas together, then of course by then he would’ve told her that his parents were dead. Especially if the relationship relies on it!!
That’s basically my main gripe with it. It’s good fun entertainment for Christmas and see it for a laugh when you’re fed up of being nice to the in-laws and the rest of your family during the seasonal holiday!