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If there was a ‘Retarded Movie of the Year’ award, this movie would most definitely win hands-down. I walked into the theatre thinking it would be a half-decent film. Ben Affleck’s a decent looking guy who was good in Daredevil. Unfortunately, his acting skills seem to be going down-hill. Affleck plays the role of a rich young man, named Drew Latham, whose skill is in marketing Pre-Spiked Eggnog in a bottle. His life is centered on his money—without a word about his family. One of the scenes in the beginning shows Drew and his girlfriend in his plush studio apartment. He starts their conversation by saying he has a gift for her to bring their relationship to a next level. Of course, like any girl, she thinks it’s an engagement ring. What better early Christmas present to receive than an engagement ring from your rich boyfriend! Instead, she opens it to find a ticket to Fiji. She can’t believe he’d even consider not spending Christmas with his family. She then realizes he had never even mentioned anything about his family to her. Upset, she runs from his apartment.

 

Sounds real great, doesn’t it? Oh, just wait. I want to see a show of hands—how many of you would rent a strange family for the holidays? Better yet, who would rent the family at the price of $250,000? Right, no one—I didn’t think so. This whack-job goes to the house he spent his childhood in. A doctor friend told him to write a list of grievances, to burn them and whisper “I forgive you” as it burned up. So, pretend you’re the owner of the house. You look out your window and see some pyromaniac burning things in your front yard. The guy comes out and whacks Drew in the back of the head with a snow shovel, knocking him out. That, ladies and gentlemen, is about the funniest part of the movie. And I’m not kidding—the movie was just lame.

 

The movie continues on, and he cuts a deal with the father to allow him to rent his family. Drew has crazy demands for all of them. He even has a script written up for dinner with the family, where he called an actor in to play the role of a grandfather. I was disgusted that the family would go straight-out like they did just for the money. They ran themselves ragged and made themselves totally unhappy for a stranger.

 

Things that I disliked: Selling alcohol products. The parents made a joke about their son watching porn in his room on his computer. Language was horrible all throughout the movie. Divorce is discussed a few times between Drew and the father, and then Drew and the mother. The father asks if the rented grandfather was smoking pot outside the house. Drew sends the mother away to do a special photo shoot to make her feel beautiful again, but in the end the son ends up finding some very uncalled-for pictures of his mother on the internet. There are many other surprises that don’t deserve the title of surprise. I was very disappointed in this movie.

 

Things that I liked: Ben Affleck getting hit in the head with a snow shovel. Perhaps his acting skills will improve some day… or maybe not.

 

I give this movie an overall rating of a D.

 

RATED: (PG-13), for sexual content, language and a brief drug reference.

STARRING: Ben Affleck, Christina Applegate, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, Jennifer Morrison

DIRECTOR: Mike Mitchell

PRODUCERS: Betty Thomas, Jenno Topping

 

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