Surviving Christmas

Surviving Christmas is a 2004 comedy film, directed by Mike Mitchell and starring Ben Affleck. Despite being a Christmas movie, DreamWorks SKG released the movie towards the end of October. This was due to it being advanced from December 2003 to avoid clashing with Affleck's other film, Paycheck. The movie received negative reviews and was a box office failure. It was released on DVD on December 21, 2004, just two months after it had its theatrical release.

Synopsis
Drew Latham is a wealthy advertising executive, driven by money, which results in him living a shallow, pointless life. After being dumped by his girlfriend, he faces the prospect of another Christmas alone, so he decides to visit his childhood home to rekindle his old holiday memories. Once there, he discovers that the house is now owned by another family, the Valcos. Not to be deterred, Latham offers them $250,000 if they will allow him to spend Christmas with them and pretend to be a member of their family. They accept and then have to put up with his annoying insistence upon doing traditional Christmas activities. After a while, Latham starts to care about the Valcos, and he attempts to repair their marriage. He also develops an attraction for the Valcos' daughter.