Changes: Surviving Christmas

Revision as of 20:42, 5 August 2019

Surviving Christmas poster — The poster for the theatrical release.

Surviving Christmas is a 2004 comedy film, directed by Mike Mitchell and starring Ben Affleck, James Gandolfini, Christina Applegate and Catherine O'Hara. Despite being a Christmas movie, DreamWorks Pictures released it towards the end of October 2004. 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.

Summary

It's the Christmas season. Wealthy Chicago ad executive Drew Latham has long avoided the family traditions of Christmas, but has dreaded being alone on the actual day. So when his tropical Christmas vacation with girlfriend Missy Vangilder falls through with Missy breaking up with him in the process, Drew, in going through some self-therapy, decides what he really needs is to relive the memorable Christmases from his childhood, which includes spending time with his parents and younger brother. As that is not possible, he decides to rent a family, namely ones he's never met before, the Valcos - husband and wife Tom and Christine and their teenaged son Brian - who now live in Drew's childhood home in suburban Chicago. Tom initially wants nothing to do with Drew until an exorbitant sum of money is involved, all written in a contract which expires at the end of Christmas day. What Drew is initially unaware of, or what he chooses to remain ignorant about, is that the Valcos are going through their own family problems, which are only exacerbated by Drew's presence. For the Valcos, the questions become whether they can endure Drew's stay until the end of Christmas day, and if they can if the money will solve their family problems. In the process, Drew may come to an admission to himself of what he wants in life and perhaps how best to achieve it. The achieving it may be difficult if he doesn't fully know that life, and as external forces come into play to complicate matters.

Music

Soundtrack

Song	Performer
"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"	Andy Williams
"Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies"	Ed Hartman
"O Christmas Tree"	Ben Affleck and James Gandolfini
"Jingle Bell Rock"	Chet Atkins
"Santa Claus is Coming to Town"	Lou Rawls
"Christmas Wrapping"	The Hit Crew and The Waitresses
"Disco Pimp"	David Hilker & John Costello
"What's Your Name?"	Lynyrd Skynyrd
"Crash"	The Primitives
"Cherry Pie"	Warrant
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"	Judy Garland
"Feliz Navidad"	José Feliciano
"Happy Holidays (Beef Wellington remix)"	Bing Crosby
"Away in a Manger"	Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
"Coming Home"	The 88

Availability

Surviving Christmas was released on VHS and DVD on December 21, 2004, just two months after its theatrical release. A Blu-ray release followed on August 1, 2017.

Cast

Actor/actress	Character(s)
Ben Affleck	Drew Latham
James Gandolfini	Tom Valco
Christina Applegate	Alicia Valco
Catherine O'Hara	Christine Valco
Josh Zuckerman	Brian Valco
Bill Macy At Richardson (understudy)	Doo-Dah
Jennifer Morrison	Missy Vangilder
Udo Kier	Heinrich
David Selby	Horace Vangilder
Stephanie Faracy	Letitia Vangilder
Stephen Root	Dr. Freeman
Tangie Ambrose	Kathryn
John BJ Bryant	Cabbie
Peter Jason	Suit
Phill Lewis	Levine the Lawyer
Tumbleweed	Santa Claus
Kate Hendrickson	Santa's photographer
Bridgette Ho	Five year-old
Hailey Noelle Johnson	Little girl
Sean Marquette	Older brother
Caitlin & Amanda Fein	Freeman twins
Kent Osborne	Jacob Marley
Bill Saito	Christmas Past
Michael Patrick Bell	Christmas Present
Amy Halloran	Fanny
Joshua Siegel	Scrooge (young)
K. Troy Zestos	Chad
Sonya Eddy	Security lady
Smalls	Security man
Ron Karabatsos	Deli man
Wynn Irwin	Customer
Angela Gacad	Cute girl at play
Tom Kenny	Man (wrapping gift)
Joan Blair	Lonely lady
John Brown	Depressed donator
William Thomas Jr.	Choir Director
Karen Furno Linda Kerns Cynthia Marty Precious McCall Anika Noni Rose David Atkinson Reynaldo Duran Michael Kosik Nicholas Zolbel (uncredited)	Choir
Jon Simanton Allison Queal Kacie Borrowman	Elves
Ray Buffer (uncredited)	Arnie
Bryan Fisher (uncredited)	Steve
Katy Maloney (uncredited)	Crazy airport traveler
Marshall Manesh (uncredited)	Janitor
Maureen Mendoza (uncredited)	Flight attendant
Marcio Rosario (uncredited)	Husband
Susanna Velasquez (uncredited)	Wife
Oral Sledge (uncredited)	Outdoor Xmas shopper
Denice Storey (uncredited)	Window shopper
Richard Strobel (uncredited) John Thurner (uncredited) Brigitte Wulf (uncredited)	Shoppers

External links

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed
content from Wikipedia (view authors).

DreamWorks

"Spawn of Santa" • Surviving Christmas • The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper • Shrek the Halls • Merry Madagascar • Kung Fu Panda Holiday • Donkey's Caroling Christmas-tacular • "The All Nighter Before Christmas" • Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury • "Present Tense" • An Ichabeezer Christmas • A Christmas Play • Trolls Holiday • How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming • "Spirit of Christmas" • "A Wanderer Christmas" • "Merry Cloudmas" • "Botty Holidays" • "Holiday Goose Chase" • Trolls: Holiday in Harmony • Happy Sniffmas • "Harmony Harbor Holiday Surprise" • "A CAT-Tabulous Christmas" • The Boss Baby: Christmas Bonus • "Festival of Might" • "Mermaid Christmas Cruise" • The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Italic title}}
-{{title|image=Surviving Christmas.png|director=Mike Mitchell|writer=Deborah Kaplan<br>Harry Elfont<br>Jeffrey Ventimilia<br>Joshua Sternin|release=October 22, 2004|runtime=1 hour, 31 minutes|available=VHS<br>DVD|rating=PG-13}}
+{{Title
-'''''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, ''[[wikipedia:Paycheck (film)|Paycheck]]''. The movie received negative reviews and was a box office failure. It was released on VHS and DVD on December 21, 2004, just two months after its theatrical release.
+|image=Surviving Christmas.png
+|director=Mike Mitchell
-==Synopsis==
+|writer=Deborah Kaplan<br />Harry Elfont {{s|(story/screenplay)}}<br />Jeffrey Ventimilia<br />Joshua Sternin {{s|(screenplay)}}
+|release=October 22, 2004
+|runtime=1 hour, 31 minutes
+|available=VHS<br />DVD<br />Blu-ray
+|rating=PG-13}}
 [[File:Surviving Christmas poster.jpg|thumb|250px|The poster for the theatrical release.]]
+'''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' is a 2004 comedy film, directed by Mike Mitchell and starring {{w|Ben Affleck}}, {{w|James Gandolfini}}, {{w|Christina Applegate}} and {{w|Catherine O'Hara}}. Despite being a [[Christmas]] movie, DreamWorks Pictures released it towards the end of October 2004. This was due to it being advanced from December 2003 to avoid clashing with Affleck's other film, ''{{W|Paycheck (film)|Paycheck}}''. The movie received negative reviews and was a box office failure.
-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.
+==Summary==
+It's the Christmas season. Wealthy Chicago ad executive Drew Latham has long avoided the family traditions of Christmas, but has dreaded being alone on the actual day. So when his tropical Christmas vacation with girlfriend Missy Vangilder falls through with Missy breaking up with him in the process, Drew, in going through some self-therapy, decides what he really needs is to relive the memorable Christmases from his childhood, which includes spending time with his parents and younger brother. As that is not possible, he decides to rent a family, namely ones he's never met before, the Valcos - husband and wife Tom and Christine and their teenaged son Brian - who now live in Drew's childhood home in suburban Chicago. Tom initially wants nothing to do with Drew until an exorbitant sum of money is involved, all written in a contract which expires at the end of Christmas day. What Drew is initially unaware of, or what he chooses to remain ignorant about, is that the Valcos are going through their own family problems, which are only exacerbated by Drew's presence. For the Valcos, the questions become whether they can endure Drew's stay until the end of Christmas day, and if they can if the money will solve their family problems. In the process, Drew may come to an admission to himself of what he wants in life and perhaps how best to achieve it. The achieving it may be difficult if he doesn't fully know that life, and as external forces come into play to complicate matters.
+==Music==
+===Soundtrack===
+{|class="wikitable"
+! Song !! Performer
+|-
+|"[[It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year]]" || Andy Williams
+|-
+|"Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" || Ed Hartman
+|-
+|"[[O Christmas Tree]]" || Ben Affleck and James Gandolfini
+|-
+|"[[Jingle Bell Rock (song)|Jingle Bell Rock]]" || Chet Atkins
+|-
+|"[[Santa Claus is Coming to Town (song)|Santa Claus is Coming to Town]]" || {{W|Lou Rawls}}
+|-
+|"[[Christmas Wrapping]]" || The Hit Crew and The Waitresses
+|-
+|"Disco Pimp" || David Hilker & John Costello
+|-
+|"What's Your Name?" || Lynyrd Skynyrd
+|-
+|"Crash" || The Primitives
+|-
+|"Cherry Pie" || Warrant
+|-
+|"[[Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas]]" || Judy Garland
+|-
+|"[[Feliz Navidad]]" || José Feliciano
+|-
+|"[[Happy Holidays (song)|Happy Holidays]] {{s|(Beef Wellington remix)}}" || Bing Crosby
+|-
+|"[[Away in a Manger]]" || Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
+|-
+|"Coming Home" || The 88
+|}
+==Availability==
+''Surviving Christmas'' was released on VHS and DVD on December 21, 2004, just two months after its theatrical release. A Blu-ray release followed on August 1, 2017.
+==Cast==
+{|class=wikitable
+!Actor/actress!!Character(s)
+|-
+|{{w|Ben Affleck}}||Drew Latham
+|-
+|{{w|James Gandolfini}}||Tom Valco
+|-
+|{{w|Christina Applegate}}||Alicia Valco
+|-
+|{{w|Catherine O'Hara}}||Christine Valco
+|-
+|Josh Zuckerman||Brian Valco
+|-valign="top"
+|Bill Macy<br>At Richardson {{s|(understudy)}}||Doo-Dah
+|-
+|Jennifer Morrison||Missy Vangilder
+|-
+|Udo Kier||Heinrich
+|-
+|David Selby||Horace Vangilder
+|-
+|Stephanie Faracy||Letitia Vangilder
+|-
+|Stephen Root||Dr. Freeman
+|-
+|Tangie Ambrose||Kathryn
+|-
+|John BJ Bryant||Cabbie
+|-
+|Peter Jason||Suit
+|-
+|Phill Lewis||Levine the Lawyer
+|-
+|Tumbleweed||[[Santa Claus]]
+|-
+|Kate Hendrickson||Santa's photographer
+|-
+|Bridgette Ho||Five year-old
+|-
+|Hailey Noelle Johnson||Little girl
+|-
+|Sean Marquette||Older brother
+|-
+|Caitlin & Amanda Fein||Freeman twins
+|-
+|Kent Osborne||[[Jacob Marley]]
+|-
+|Bill Saito||[[The Ghost of Christmas Past|Christmas Past]]
+|-
+|Michael Patrick Bell||[[The Ghost of Christmas Present|Christmas Present]]
+|-
+|Amy Halloran||Fanny
+|-
+|Joshua Siegel||[[Ebenezer Scrooge|Scrooge]] {{s|(young)}}
+|-
+|K. Troy Zestos||Chad
+|-
+|Sonya Eddy||Security lady
+|-
+|Smalls||Security man
+|-
+|Ron Karabatsos||Deli man
+|-
+|Wynn Irwin||Customer
+|-
+|Angela Gacad||Cute girl at play
+|-
+|Tom Kenny||Man {{s|(wrapping gift)}}
+|-
+|Joan Blair||Lonely lady
+|-
+|John Brown||Depressed donator
+|-
+|William Thomas Jr.||Choir Director
+|-valign="top"
+|Karen Furno<br>Linda Kerns<br>Cynthia Marty<br>Precious McCall<br>Anika Noni Rose<br>David Atkinson<br>Reynaldo Duran<br>Michael Kosik<br>Nicholas Zolbel  {{s|(uncredited)}}||Choir
+|-valign="top"
+|Jon Simanton<br>Allison Queal<br>Kacie Borrowman||Elves
+|-
+|Ray Buffer {{s|(uncredited)}}||Arnie
+|-
+|Bryan Fisher {{s|(uncredited)}}||Steve
+|-
+|Katy Maloney {{s|(uncredited)}}||Crazy airport traveler
+|-
+|Marshall Manesh {{s|(uncredited)}}||Janitor
+|-
+|Maureen Mendoza {{s|(uncredited)}}||Flight attendant
+|-
+|Marcio Rosario {{s|(uncredited)}}||Husband
+|-
+|Susanna Velasquez {{s|(uncredited)}}||Wife
+|-
+|Oral Sledge {{s|(uncredited)}}||Outdoor Xmas shopper
+|-
+|Denice Storey {{s|(uncredited)}}||Window shopper
+|-valign=top
+|Richard Strobel {{s|(uncredited)}}<br>John Thurner {{s|(uncredited)}}<br>Brigitte Wulf {{s|(uncredited)}}||Shoppers
+|}
 ==External links==
+* {{Imdb title|0252028}}
-* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0252028/ ''Surviving Christmas''] at the Internet Movie Database
+* {{Rotten Tomatoes|surviving_christmas}}
 * [http://a.abc.com/specials/survivingchristmas/ Archived ABC Feature Page for ''Surviving Christmas'']
-* [http://a.abc.com/specials/holiday/ Archived ABC Feature Page for ''Start Here for the Holidays'']
 {{Wikipedia}}
@@ Line 15: / Line 163: @@
 [[Category:Movies]]
 [[Category:Theatrical releases]]
-[[Category:Released in the 2000s]]
 [[Category:DreamWorks]]
+[[Category:2004 releases]]
+[[Category:Comedy Movies]]