On the 10th day of Christmas, Awfully Good Movies gave to thee… another sucky Christmas mov-ie! And this season, that movie would be Surviving Christmas, the 2004 holiday farce starring Ben Affleck as a wealthy but lonely ad executive who heads back to his old childhood home to find James Gandolfini and Catherine O’Hara now living there with their visiting daughter Christina Applegate, and asks them if they’ll serve as his replacement family for Christmas for $250,000–which is barely more than this flick made at the box office, due to Affleck’s reputation as a punching bag from his (first) romance with J. Lo.
Indeed, this was one of the movies that almost ended Affleck’s career, with Gigli and this being such huge flops that Affleck’s next film, Man About Town, went direct to DVD. Don’t feel too bad for Affleck though, the movie’s horrible reception led to him opting to refocus on directing, and the rest is history.
Yet 20 years later, does the oddball comedy duo of Bruce Wayne and Tony Soprano actually hold up far better than we thought? And is that partially because the sight of James Gandolfini scowling in a Santa hat and Christmas sweater is just plain hilarious? The answer to both of those questions is “Yes”. Merry Christmas to All, and to All an Awfully Good Night!
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