MOVIE REVIEW 'Surviving Christmas' or living it down?

You'll get tired of Ben Affleck's buffoonery.
By PHILIP WUNTCH
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
If ever an actor needed holiday cheer, it's Ben Affleck, star of "Surviving Christmas."
His last five films have been losers, with the notorious "Gigli" the most overcooked of turkeys. As for "Surviving Christmas," it's appropriate that this would-be comedy should be released so close to Halloween. It's a real horror.
It begins as a promising sardonic comedy but quickly dissolves into a saccharine heap. Affleck's bouncy, camera-hogging performance registers on the wrong side of manic. He plays an obnoxious, successful Chicago executive who's tired of spending each holiday season alone. So he returns to his childhood homestead and "rents" a family for the holidays.
Surrogate parents
James Gandolfini and Catherine O'Hara play his grudging surrogate parents, who indulge in the preposterous charade because they can't refuse his cash offer. Both Gandolfini and O'Hara are accomplished farceurs who know the value of understatement. Their best moments consist of terse dialogue, accompanied by facial expressions that speak volumes. Meanwhile, Affleck stands around and mugs, and his buffoonery grows tiresome.
All the mishaps that occur during his holiday odyssey are easily predicted. Director Mike Mitchell, whose most lauded work, comparatively speaking, was "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo," lacks any sense of consistency. After a while, you long for the relative hilarity of "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation." Who knows, you may even long for Chevy Chase.
Comic zest
Aside from Gandolfini and O'Hara, Bill Macy also delivers some comic zest as the naughty grandpa rented for the occasion. Christina Applegate goes through the motions of the film's obligatory voice of reason. She actually does so with poise and assurance, which cannot have been easy.
Among the closing credits is a firm listed as providing "security for Mr. Affleck." Is that a subliminal warning for discontented moviegoers?