Deck the Halls

Film Review: Deck the Halls Cast: Danny DeVito, Mathew Broderick, Kristin Davis and Kristin Chenoweth

It's the festive season and there's a new neighbour in town. Danny DeVito plays the part of Buddy Hall, a cunning family man desperately in need of settling down. It's not easy establishing a home in a new neighbourhood as the Hall family soon finds out, especially with a neighbour like Steve Finch, played by Mathew Broderick.

Finch is a man set in his ways. His desire to control everything around him borders on obsessive-compulsive. At best he is anally retentive; at worst seriously unstable. As the self proclaimed chairman of the Town's Christmas celebrations, Finch feels completely threatened by the arrival of Hall.

Their families get along like a house on fire, but these two alpha males can't see eye to eye on anything. They become fiercely competitive and unwittingly puerile, as each tries to outdo the other. Buddy Hall gets a bizarre notion into his head about adorning his house with sufficient lighting so that it can be viewed from space. He is prepared to do this even if it means arousing the wrath of the Finch family.

This is a weird and wacky tale about Christmas cheer and reconciliation. Naturally there is that inevitable chemistry between DeVito and Broderick. From rivalry to cooperation, this is their story told in the true spirit of the festive season.

Steve Finch (Matthew Broderick) is smallish Cloverdale, Massachusetts's town optometrist. He also is determined to create great holiday memories at Christmastime for, as he explains, he was an army brat and moved too often to experience a traditional Xmas. Therefore, Steve has his family on a schedule that includes hanging wreaths and singing carols. He is also a big supporter for the town's winterfest celebrations. Enter Buddy Hall (Danny Devito). He and his wife have just purchased the house next door and Buddy has got the holiday spirit, too, in a big way. He wants enough lights on his house to assure it can be spotted from outer space! Buddy and Steve get off on the wrong foot from the start, with Buddy's light-and-music show giving Steve insomnia and stress. Can these two get into the true holiday spirit of forgiveness and harmony? This is a nice addition to the holiday movie repertoire. Broderick and Devito are fine as the quarreling neighbors, with Devito turning down his manic comedy just a bit, with welcome results. The rest of the cast is well chosen, too. The look of the film is arresting and the costumes and scenery quite appealing. Near the end of the flick, there is a sweet moment when the lights go out and the lovely song, O Holy Night, is resonating. What a great way to remind everyone for the true reason for the holiday, amid the humorous chaos of the rest of the picture. If you want to see something new this holiday or in the future, this one will do nicely for a family gathering. It has some laughs and messages that will get everyone in the mood for the annual holiday experiences.

Great storyline, good looking ladies, veteran actors, all add up to an enjoyable movie. The conflict between DeVito's Buddy Hall, and Broderick's Steve Finch is played excellently from two of Hollywood's veteran actors. Buddy Hall is one of those guys who is always looking for special meaning in his life. When he moves next door to Steve Finch, he thinks he's found it when he decides that he would like for his Christmas lighting to be able to be viewed from space. Unfortunately, Steve just happens to be the "chief" of Christmas lights in his little hamlet, and he develops a quick dislike for all things Buddy. The movie is chock full of pranks that they pull on each other, while their beautiful, and understanding wives tolerate them at best. In the end, the challenge for them both is to discover the true meaning of Christmas in time to save their holidays, and maybe even their marriages. If you like a good sentimental Christmas film, then you'll probably like this one. Lots of funny scenes with plenty of drama mixed in. I give it a solid 8 out of 10 for a Christmas themed film.

To put it briefly, this was an entertaining movie, gave me a number of laughs and was also extremely stupid and insulting to anyone's intelligence. But, if you look at it strictly as a farce, it will do for a 90-minute diversion. Just don't take any of the characters seriously and try not to get annoyed - which isn't easy - at the typical comedy clichés that are in this movie. And - as some others have pointed out - do not watch this with your kids; it's not "family fare."

Many of the dumb "Hollywood stereotypes" you've endured in comedies the last few decades are in this film. A few examples: the obnoxious kids who say clever things; the typical family story where the men are made to look stupid while the women are smart and sensible; one guy who is a total crook is pictured as sympathetic; things happen in minutes that would take days to occur, unnecessary sex jokes, on and on. Yet, through it all, there are some funny lines of dialog and the Christmas lights on Danny DeVito's house are great fun to see.

This comedy also reminded me a lot of "What, About Bob?" as DeVito slowly drives neighbor Matthew Broderick almost crazy as Bill Murray did to Richard Dreyfuss. I'm told it also was like the National Lampoon's Christmas Story but I never saw that.

What was very interesting were two five-minute featurettes which came with the DVD. In it, is explained and shown how the movie makers built the two houses from scratch, put in all the incredible lights and light show and how it was made to look dark. The story takes place in a mythical town in Massachusetts (where nobody in the film, by the way, has an accent!) but was filmed in Vancouver in July where they were only getting six hours of darkness per night. Most of the film takes place at night so they also built as 60-foot high ark-like building over the two big houses! Incredible!

While this movie is not laugh out loud funny, I still found it cute and entertaining. I especially liked the unique and bright light display. I don't know if most of those lights were just computer generated or if they decorated a real house, but it sure looked amazing.

In the movie, Buddy hall and his family moves across the street from the Finch's. He comes up with the idea of making his house bright enough to be seen from outer space. All the lights and traffic begin to aggravate Steve Finch. He makes an attempt to sabotage Buddy's lights, but his attempt isn't very successful. He competes with Buddy in the town speed skating contest. Steve's wife gets along with Buddy's and she and kids begin doing things different. Steve wants everything done the same as in the same "family traditions." Buddy and Steve learn a lesson in the end and what it means to be good neighbors.

FINAL VERDICT: Entertaining. 12 year olds should like this as well as adults.