what would you expect from a film title survive christmasand present a festive fun and something like ghandi or english patient . there be lot of thing i love about this film and it funny and it be very well cast and it be superbly write . i come to the film a a kaplan or elfort fan but be dubious when i read the plot and it sound ridiculous . but the film doesn not come across like that because affleck ( a drew latham ) play his part perfectly and one minute a child like adult and the next a mature man who realise he have gain everything in life apart from what he really want . in fact we see latham grow up in this film and when he encounter the problem of those he envy and realise that their life be not so good and he see that his own lot be not so bad . this film have few weak or dud scene than many other comedy i have see . comedy be so much hard than any other type of drama and it either work or it doesn not and very few comedy writer get it correct every time . i particularly love the drama scene and where the family take to read part write by latham . the pleasure be in the reaction of tom valco ( james gandolfini ) and the comment of brian valco ( josh zuckerman ) . it be the dilemma of the greedy tom valco who have to bite his tongue and wear silly hat or sing to the christmas tree in order to earn the prize money that keep the film move along well . the addition of daughter alicia ( christina applegate ) into the story bring a delightful romantic angle and and why not in a christmas film . of course it corny and contrive while he rich and handsome and she beautiful and single and and so inevitably her and afflect end up fall over together in the snow and find themselves face to face . great . one thing i would have like be more use of festive music to boost the atmosphere but i can not really complain . i get what i want .