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Movies / On DVD / Deck the Halls
Deck the Halls

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Deck the Halls (2006)

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Reviews Counted:79

Fresh:5

Rotten:74

Average Rating:2.9/10

Consensus: Relying on flat humor and a preposterous plot, Deck the Halls is an unnecessarily mean-spirited holiday movie that does little to put viewers in a holiday mood.

Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for some crude and suggestive humor, and for language.

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:01-12-2006

Synopsis: DECK THE HALLS is a family comedy about one-upsmanship, jealousy, clashing neighbors, home decoration...and the true spirit of the holidays. For Cloverdale, Massachusetts optometrist Steve Finch... DECK THE HALLS is a family comedy about one-upsmanship, jealousy, clashing neighbors, home decoration...and the true spirit of the holidays. For Cloverdale, Massachusetts optometrist Steve Finch (MATTHEW BRODERICK), no time of the year can compare to the glory of the Christmas season. And, for many years now, he's carried on a series of heartfelt but hokey Yuletide traditions that his family – wife Kelly (KRISTIN DAVIS), daughter Madison (ALIA SHAWKAT), and son Carter (DYLAN BLUE) – at this point, can barely tolerate. Despite his family's exhausted protests, super-organized Steve has the December calendar chock full with everything from shooting the Finch's annual Christmas card photo, to their ritual tree harvesting and neighborhood caroling night. There's also scheduled time for shopping, "personal reflection," and the town's yearly Winterfest carnival, which Steve joyously oversees. But Steve's Christmas bliss is suddenly destroyed when slippery car salesman Buddy Hall (DANNY DeVITO) moves in next door and Steve finds himself going toe-to-toe with his new neighbor. Buddy quickly begins to undermine Steve's dominance as the local "King of Christmas" when he sets out to festoon his new house with enough glowing holiday lights so it will be visible from outer space. We're talking a lot of lights, here! But why stop at lights? Motivated by the celebrity he's achieving with his dazzling, megawatt decorations, Buddy adds a live manger scene complete with donkeys, cows, sheep, and an imported camel, while continuing to wreak havoc on an infuriated Steve in a host of creatively twisted ways. Though Steve is in meltdown mode over Buddy's holiday shenanigans (never mind that Buddy's tapping into the Finches' electricity to power his décor!), wife Kelly has bonded with Buddy's brassy better-half Tia (KRISTIN CHENOWETH), while Madison has buddied up to the Halls' sexy, dim-bulb twin daughters Ashley and Emily (SABRINA & KELLY ALDRIDGE), who light up the life of younger Carter as well. Kelly and Tia and the kids become increasingly impatient, though, with Steve and Buddy's escalating rivalry and eventually threaten to pull the plug on the guys' entire Christmas season. Can Steve and Buddy declare a ceasefire before the holidays are ruined altogether, or will they continue their one-upsmanship until personal victory is achieved? In Deck the Halls, ‘tis the season where just about anything is possible. --© 20th Century Fox [More]

Starring: Matthew Broderick, Danny De Vito, Kristin Davis, Kristin Chenoweth

Starring: Matthew Broderick, Danny De Vito, Kristin Davis, Kristin Chenoweth, Alia Shawkat, Dylan Blue, Kelly Aldridge, Sabrina Aldridge, Fred Armisen, Gillian Vigman, SuChin Pak, Ryan Devlin, Jorge Garcia, Gary Chalk

Director: John Whitesell

Director: John Whitesell
Screenwriter: Matt Corman, Chris Ord
Producer: Michael Costagan, Jeremiah Samuels
Composer: George S. Clinton
Studio: 20th Century Fox

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Reviews for Deck the Halls

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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'My stupidity astounds me!' chortles Danny DeVito in Deck the Halls, a line that pretty much sums up this tale of warring neighbours with very different ideas about celebrating Christmas.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
12/30/06
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Got any kids who've been naughty this year? Here's their present.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Sam Toy
Sam Toy
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The gags land like lumps of coal, but at least the unnatural mounds of fluffy white snow remain unsullied in the dreck.

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Tom Meek
Tom Meek
Boston Phoenix

Ah, another lifeless comedy for the holidays. It's just super to be reminded how mean-spirited and grotesquely commercial the Christmas season can be, isn’t it?

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
11/20/08
Kit Bowen
Kit Bowen
Hollywood.com

The distasteful formula is even more sour and ham-handed than usual; Broderick’s and DeVito’s natural likeability never stands a chance.

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

a bit too faux-humbug for me

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment Comment
03/12/08
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

banal

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
10/23/07
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

When Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito team up for a comedy that can't even deliver one well-oiled joke, that's a big problem.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
10/07/07
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
DVDTalk.com

Laden with false climaxes, the overstuffed plot leaves you exhausted well before the movie ends, and the amiable actors sleepwalk through their uninspired roles.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
04/14/07
Joshua Land
Joshua Land
Time Out New York

What’s interesting about typical Hollywood Christmas movies is that regardless of how crass, vulgar, or mean-spirited they may be, by the last scene they will inevitably try to wrap viewers in a blanket of warm seasonal cheer.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
12/30/06
Josh Rosenblatt
Josh Rosenblatt
Austin Chronicle

This one follows the depressing pattern of Surviving Christmas and Christmas With the Kranks: enforced holiday cheer gives way to bilious hatred, then hollow forgiveness.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
12/26/06
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

Not that we expect much from a Holiday movie about neighbours competing over Christmas lights (how familiar is that?), but John Whitesell's film is so lacking in any plausible plot that I squirmed in my seat throughout the entire duration of the screening

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
12/19/06
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

seems to have only been greenlit because producers know that families need PG-rated dreck to occupy the kiddies while mom is out shopping for Christmas presents.

Full Review Source: Sean the Movie Guy | comment Comment
12/17/06
Sean McBride
Sean McBride
Sean the Movie Guy

Deck the screenwriter, deck the director--then go and deck your own halls.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
12/11/06
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

The lights go off pretty fast on this one.

Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | comment Comment
12/09/06
Joseph Proimakis
Joseph Proimakis
Movies for the Masses

Caso você seja diabético(a), cuidado ao assistir a Um Natal Brilhante, pois há um grande risco de vir a sofrer uma hiperglicemia provocada pelo excesso de água-com-açúcar.

Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | comment Comment
12/07/06
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

A few laughs are sprinkled in this equivalent of a lame sitcom holiday episode, but the broad comedy and treacly ending are unlikely to put anyone in the Christmas spirit.

Full Review Source: Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema | comment Comment
12/03/06
Mark Pfeiffer
Mark Pfeiffer
Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema

Watching "Deck the Halls" is like getting a lump of coal in your stocking. Except receiving a lump of coal takes only seconds, while this awful movie goes on for an hour and a half.

Full Review Source: Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) | comment Comment
12/02/06
Linda Cook
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

[Deck the Halls] wants to be both naughty and nice, but just ends up feeling deeply confused.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
12/02/06
Nathan Rabin
Nathan Rabin
AV Club

You might be wondering just when the heartwarming spirit of the season is going to come crashing down upon these boy-men.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
12/01/06
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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