With a cast of good actors Danny De Vito, Kristin Chenoweth, Kristin Davis and Matthew Broderick, in a setting of small town America, having a plot that revolves around being the proclaimed expert on Christmas, this movie would seem to have all the correct elements to make it an exceptional Holiday Hit.
The movie begins with the yearly Christmas preparations of Dr. Steve Finch (Broderick) an optometrist who desires to be his town’s Christmas tsar. His wife good naturedly tolerates his obsession, and eventually falls prey to his enthusiasm and plans. His children are less easy to convince.
Their traditional build up to the holidays is interrupted by the arrival of DeVito and Chenoweth as the new neighbors, Buddy and Tia Hall. Once introduced, the wives and kids like each other, and for a moment it appears that the film will be warm with shared experiences and memory making merriment among new friends. Sadly, this is not to be.
With astonishing vitriol and competitiveness Finch versus Hall in a series of misadventures that are anything but funny. My gosh, they even burn down the Christmas tree…..twice! It is difficult to see a movie that has so much potential, completely crash and burn, and it is hard to tell exactly where it went off track. The setting is lovely, and much attention has been paid to creating the “feel” of a familiar town in holiday decoration.
Broderick and Davis are good at the beginning but rapidly fade into stiff stereotypes, that are unconvincing and if that isn’t bad enough, De Vito and Chenoweth (who can both be so funny) are nothing short of manic in their interpretation of the free spirited Halls. The four children in the movie fare better, and redeem the story a bit.
Unfortunately this is not enough to make anything pleasant to watch. In an age where we are desperately trying to encourage concern for our natural resources, one guy wants to light up his house to be seen from outer space. Add politically incorrect to this film’s baggage of bad.
The single disc contains the feature film which has a running time of 93 minutes. The rating is PG because of language and some suggestive dialog, and adults behaving badly, more childish than children.
This film could have a niche as the Christmas movie for people who hate the holidays and wish to continue with that mindset.
Deck the Halls is now available at Amazon . It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a Nov. 26th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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