This variation on It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol is being released some two months out of season, but if your expectations are low enough, you may be pleasantly surprised. The story won't take you anywhere new, so what really matters is the absurd angle it takes—rich loner Ben Affleck decides to "rent" a family for the holidays—which allows the game cast to indulge in even more absurd behavior. It gives a little bit of life to an otherwise overworked theme.
Affleck is always more enjoyable when he isn't playing action heroes, excelling here with a dialogue-driven character. Family dad James Gandolfini snarls and sneers like a pro, and playing mom is Catherine O'Hara, who's always a hoot.
No one is going to accuse Deuce Bigalow director Mike Mitchell of being a comedic genius, but he does know how to stage a gag. His screenplay was worked on by at least four writers, but on the plus side is that at least some of the jokes work. It's no great treat, but it's a pretty neat trick—just in time for Halloween.