Fantastic!

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

A lonely, obnoxious young millionaire pays a family to spend Christmas with him. Surviving Christmas is nowhere near as bad as everyone was saying for years and it's totally nowhere near as bad as a 19/100 which it got in Metacritic and sure some characters are not get developed really well and it's not the greatest Christmas movie ever made but i still enjoyed it mostly because of Ben Affleck i think he was hilarious and James Gandolfini was also really good i also liked the reason why he spend Christmas alone with nobody around him and even tho there could be more emotion in it and and like i said certain characters for example like the son could have been developed much better but still it was pretty funny, dramatic at times and the whole cast did a nice job.

Underrated. Far from perfect but a really good, enjoyable movie nonetheless. Great chemistry between Applegate and Affleck, Affleck like you'll never see him again, enjoyable, but as he's far down the "Serious, Serious" road now, you'll not see him anywhere near this funny and goofy again. Fantastic supporting cast, Gandolfini is so good as the gruff Dad, O'Hara so perfect as the Mom and to Gandolfini's Dad, Macy as the granddad, and others, can't imagine a better cast. Really good lines peppered throughout, overlook the odd bit here and there and just an enjoyable hour and a half. Clearly there was some struggle during production to get this made, makes you wonder what it could have been, but also clearly why a good cast is so important, and what a great cast can do to save a movie even to the point of making it an enjoyable 90 minutes.

Being something of a big Christmas movie fan, I came to this with some trepidation after reading other reviews - but decided to give it a go with no prejudices and you know what, it's fun - it does what it is supposed to in a Christmas film, builds up tension and drama but then gives you a happy ending - perfect, and the cast are top notch.Forget what you read about all the troubles with scripting etc etc and timing of release of the movie, the fact is that it is a very enjoyable Christmas movie - yes, it may be a little "join the dots/movie by numbers" but come on...it's Christmas, it isn't supposed to be or trying to be Citizen Kane for goodness sake!

I recognised the title, then I spotted both the leading actor, old "Assface" himself (LOL) and how many stars the critics give this film, only one, so it being near Christmas I was willing to give it a go, from director Mike Mitchell (Sky High, Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter). Basically executive Drew Latham (twice Razzie nominated Ben Affleck) is the rich playboy with a lot to be happy with, but living a shallow lifestyle and recently splitting with girlfriend Missy Vanglider (Jennifer Morrison) he faces another Christmas all by himself. Wanting to experience his childhood and have a family Christmas once again he phones many relatives with no success, so he decides to go to the house he grew up in, and meet the new Valco family living in it. Drew offers father/husband Tom (The Sopranos' James Gandolfini) a very high financial reward if he lets him stay in the house and pretend that he is part of their family, along with wife/mother Christine (Home Alone's Catherine O'Hara) and teenage son Brian Valco (Austin Powers in Goldmember's Josh Zuckerman). The overly eccentric millionaire house guest won't give the family a break as he is very annoying with with overactive enthusiasm to celebrate Christmas. Older daughter Alicia (Christina Applegate) comes home, and Drew is very irritated as he never had a sister and it doesn't go with his "script", so he does his best to work around it and pretend she is not there. He also goes to the trouble of hiring a fake granddad with actor Saul, or Doo-Dah (Bill Macy) to Drew, he wants his Christmas to be exactly as he remembers from his past. Slowly Alicia finds herself falling for Drew's lovable attitude to the approaching holiday, but of course his more vibrant personality stop her from giving into any real connection or feelings. Then Drew gets a phone call from Missy saying that she not only agrees to go to Hawaii with him, being tempted by his bracelet he gave her, but he is on her way to the Valco house bringing her parents to the meet the family. So the Valcos do their best to follow Drew's instructions and get on with the visitors, despite an understudy actor as Doo-Dah (Sy Richardson), and Alicia trying to get him caught out. Eventually Drew draws everyone away, and it looks like he is going to be alone after all, but a heart to heart solves everything, and he and the Valcos go to a diner for a friendly Christmas dinner. Also starring Ace Ventura: Pet Detective's Udo Kier as Heinrich, David Selby as Horace Vanglider and Stephanie Faracy as Letitia Vanglider. Affleck is the most irritating rich boy character you could come across with his constant smiling and shouting, Applegate's career time is wasted, and that of Gandolfini's and O'Hara's. The story is ridiculous and all over the place if it tries to patch up, any attempts by supporting actors with their less is more acting doesn't make any difference, and it just isn't the sort of thing that's going to create holiday cheer or laughs, an awful Christmas comedy. It was nominated the Razzies for Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay. Poor!