Contacts

The fact that DreamWorks is dumping "Surviving Christmas" -- a holiday movie -- on the market in October should say it all. Perhaps the studio is being compassionate and releasing it early in an effort not to spoil our holidays.

Of course, it's just in time for Halloween, and it is a scary movie. Unfortunately it's supposed to be a comedy.

There is an adage: The more screenwriters involved in a film, the worse the script. "Surviving Christmas" proves the point. It's penned by Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont, Jeffrey Ventimilia and Joshua Sternin. But this script is so bad I'm surprised there were only four writers involved.

Ben Affleck seems like a nice guy, and has an extremely likable screen presence. But he's not a great actor. Sure, he's a movie star, but a lack of acting ability hasn't stopped hundreds of stars in the past, and it's doubtful it will in the future. But what's really aggravating is Affleck's unfailing knack for picking really bad projects. He's done it again with this holiday turkey.