Surviving Christmas | Blogmas Day 9

-
Image result for surviving christmas

Hey Guys x

It's Blogmas day 9!

I am a huge fan of Ben Affleck, and before Blogmas I didn't know that he was in a Christmas movie, so I got really excited to see it! Then I saw the Rotten Tomatoes rating, and other reviews, and I got less excited...

Drew (Ben Affleck) is a wealthy man with no friends or family. When he discovers that he'll be spending Christmas alone, he decides to pay a family to spend the holiday with him. But can money ever buy you happiness?

OK, so this film wasn't good. It wasn't the worst Christmas film I've ever seen, but... it was definitely up there.

For a start, it completely hits you over the head with Christmas. It forces it down your throat as a way of saying 'This isn't bad. This isn't unrealistic. This makes sense. It's Christmas!', and none of these things are actually true, so it just doesn't work.

Speaking of being unrealistic... it's honestly the most unrealistic plot that I've ever come across in a Christmas movie - and they're not exactly known for how realistic they are! The thing is, even if the concept in itself was realistic, the idea of a family actually accepting this (and then acting the way that the family do in the movie, including letting him live in their house!) is just insane.

While watching it, I thought it might end up being one of those films that's so bad it's actually good, but after seeing it, it is just bad. It's over-the-top cheesy, and some parts of it are just embarrassing.

What makes it worse is that this film actually has a really good cast. In addition to Ben Affleck it also stars James Gandolfini, Christina Applegate, Catherine O'Hara and Jennifer Morrison. So the fact that the film isn't good just makes it worse, because with this cast, even when this was made in 2004, there was potential for a really great film.

It tries really hard to be heartfelt, and on this point I totally get where it was coming from. The problem with this attempt is that the film doesn't spend any time making you care about these characters. So anything that tries to be heartfelt falls flat because you don't care about the characters in the first place.

Overall, I enjoyed watching this movie even though it really wasn't great, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you have time to kill.

6/10 - Originality
7/10 - Christmas Spirit
5/10 - Christmas Music

It's 16 days until Christmas!

Come back tomorrow for Blogmas day 10!

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you so much for your comment xx

Popular Posts

Snatch | 100 Movies Bucket List

-
Image
I'd never heard of this film before last year, when I watched it for the first time, so this time around was my second watch. Guy Richie's movies tend to be a bit hit-or-miss for me. This is one of the only ones where I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other. I didn't love the story, it didn't hold my interest the whole way through. But one thing that I absolutely loved was the dialogue. It was smart, quippy and made the film a much more fun watch than the plot itself would suggest. Another thing I absolutely loved was Brad Pitt's performance. This was probably one of my favourite roles of his. He did a great job with the character, and it was really different to everything else I've seen him in. But that being said, all of the performances were great. For me, if I had to guess why this film is considered a classic, it would 100% be because of the script and performances, rather than the film as a whole. It was the script that kept me locked in and
Read more

Book Review #127: The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

-
Image
After the events of 'The Inheritance Games', Avery still doesn't know why Tobias Hawthorne left her his entire fortune. All she knows for sure is that she isn't a Hawthorne. But when she discovers something that suggests she's closer to the Hawthorne family than she ever imagined, Avery, along with the mysterious Hawthorne brothers, try to find the truth once and for all . I reviewed the first book, 'The Inheritance Games', HERE , and said that because I didn't love it, I wasn't really interested in reading the sequels. I picked this book up on the spur of the moment, because while I didn't love the first, I was kind of curious about what came next. I'm so glad I decided to pick this up, because I liked it a lot more than the first one! One of my criticisms the first time around was that I felt Avery was quite juvenile and childish. This time around was entirely different - I really liked being in her head, and she definitely seemed more matu
Read more

The Green Mile | 100 Movies Bucket List

-
Image
This was a first-time watch, but one that had been on my list for years, so I'm glad the Bucket List forced me to finally watch it! What a movie! I don't really know what I was expecting, but I didn't expect to be as affected by it as I was. Because this film really touched me. I was emotionally invested, engaged, immersed, devastated, broken and everything in between. I'm still not over it. There are so many things to praise about this movie, starting with the performances. Every actor was amazing in their respective role, but the two clear standouts are Michael Clarke Duncan and Tom Hanks. I've seen quite a few Tom Hanks movies, and I can honestly say that this is the first time I've completely loved a performance of his, he was amazing in this role. And Michael Clarke Duncan was phenomenal and completely made the film what it is. Then there's the writing and direction, both of which were incredible. The story is so powerful, which is due to, what I assume
Read more

My Problem With '8 Simple Rules'

-
Image
Hey Guys x Today's post might come out as more of a rant, which I'm OK with because I haven't ranted about something in a while! Last year, I started watching the show '8 Simple Rules' when it started playing on Comedy Central. It originally came on between 2002 and 2005 but I didn't watch it when it was first on. Anyway, I really got into it. There were only three seasons, so it was over before I wanted it to be. And I loved this show, and I still love it. Comedy Central doesn't play it anymore but if it did I would dive right back into it because I love a good sitcom. However, I have a major gripe with a plotline of the show, that got more prominent in season 2/3. Let me just explain the characters a bit, so you know who I'm taking about in case you never watched it. The show revolves around a family, Paul and Cate Hennessy, and their children Bridget, Kerry and Rory. In the second season, the father in the show died (due
Read more

Anyone But You | Film Review

-
Image
After a great first date that quickly goes bad, Bea (Sydney Sweeney) and Ben (Glen Powell) despise each other. But when they are both invited to a destination wedding, they decide to fake date to stop their animosity from ruining the wedding celebrations. I didn't pay much attention to this film until I started seeing the reviews. I haven't seen a really good rom-com in a while, so hearing that this was quite a good one made me excited to see it! I liked this film, but I didn't love it. The meet-cute was really fun and unique, and a good way for the audience to get to know the characters. The cast is great, and the characters are all played really well. The main characters in particular are really fun to watch, especially when they're arguing. The dialogue is written really well and it's an enjoyable watch, but I never felt like I really got to know them, and so I never felt 100% invested in their stories. And with that, while I enjoyed their interactions, I never r
Read more