SURVIVING CHRISTMAS
Year: 2004
USA: DreamWorks Distribution
UK: UIP (UK)
Cast: Ben Affleck, James Gandolfini, Christina Applegate, Catherine O'Hara, Josh Zuckerman, Bill Macy, Jennifer Morrison, Udo Kier, David Selby, Stephanie Faracy, Stephen Root, Sy Richardson, Tangie Ambrose, John BJ Bryant, Peter Jason, Phill Lewis, Tumbleweed, Kate Hendrickson, Bridgette Ho, Hailey Noelle Johnson, Sean Marquette, Caitlin Fein, Amanda Fein, Kent Osborne, Bill Saito, Michael Patrick Bell, Amy Halloran, Joshua Siegel, K Troy Zestos, Sonya Eddy, Smalls, Ron Karabatsos, Wynn Irwin, Angela Gacad, Tom Kenny, Joan M Blair, John Carter Brown, William Thomas Jr, Karen Furno, Linda Kerns, Cynthia Marty, Melanie Taylor, Precious Mccall, Anika Noni Rose, David Atkinson, Reynaldo Duran, Michael Kosik, Jon Simanton, Allison Queal, Kacie Borrowman
Director: Mike Mitchell
Country: USA
USA & UK: 91 mins
USA Rated: PG-13 for sexual content, language and a brief drug reference
UK Certificate: 12A contains moderate sex references
USA Release Date: 22 October 2004
UK Release Date: 3 December 2004
Synopsis
Academy Award® winner Ben Affleck (GOOD WILL HUNTING), Emmy winner James Gandolfini (THE SOPRANOS), Christina Applegate (ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY) and Catherine O'Hara (A MIGHTY WIND, BEST IN SHOW) star in the comedy SURVIVING CHRISTMAS.
Facing another Christmas alone, Drew Latham (Ben Affleck) decides to go back to his idyllic childhood home to recall the family holidays of his youth. There is, however, one problem: the people living there now are not Drew's family. Nevertheless, Drew has his mind set on an old-fashioned family Christmas, and the fact that the "family" in question, the Valcos, are complete strangers, isn't about to put a crimp in his plans.
Offering them a small fortune, Drew bribes his newfound "parents" (James Gandolfini and Catherine O'Hara) to let him spend Christmas in their home, pretending to be part of the family. Just when the Valcos begin to question if any amount of money is worth being dragged all over town by the over-zealous Drew on such traditional family holiday excursions as Christmas shopping and the requisite choosing of the Christmas tree, their daughter Alicia (Christina Applegate) comes home for the holidays, with no intention of adopting a new "brother."