Deck the Halls: I Hope This Isn't the Best Holiday Movie Released This Season

My husband and I were excited to see the new holiday movie Deck the Halls. I had received free passes for a sneak preview screening. I was also excited because I thought it would help us get into the holiday spirit. I started to become a bit wary, though, as the theatre remained more than half empty as opposed to the usual full house for free previews. I thought, "is there something I don't know about this movie?" Still, I was hopeful as the film opened in a small snowy New England town that's being decorated for Christmas and the Winterfest carnival.

Matthew Broderick is the head of Winterfest and uptight eye doctor Steve Finch. He is obsessed with creating the perfect holiday by micromanaging events for each day in December. He grows his own Christmas trees, has a different set of matching holiday sweaters for the Christmas card photo each year, and organizes a group of carolers with his family included. His family is irritated but for the most part plays along. Kristin Davis (of Sex & the City fame) plays the fairly forgettable role of his wife Kelly.

The talented Alia Shawkat of Arrested Development, I believe is underused in the limited role of Steve and Kelly's daughter Madison. Dylan Blue rounds out the family as Carter Finch. He claims to be having a midlife crisis which is a humorous premise that is pretty much abandoned for the remainder of the film.

Their lives are turned upside down when the new neighbors move in across the street. Danny DeVito plays Buddy Hall, a slick and slimy used car salesman, married to the gorgeous Kristin Chenoweth (of Broadway fame and RV) as Tia. Their daughters Ashley and Emily who have very few lines (for good reason) are played by twins Sabrina and Kelly Aldridge, models (not actresses) from MTV's reality show 8th & Ocean. The daughters show their dad myEarth, realizing that while their neighbor's homes can be seen, theirs is invisible from space.

Buddy becomes obsessed with being seen from space and comes up with a hair brained scheme. Little by little he buys out all the holiday lights in town and turns his home into a Vegas light show. When his home still can't be seen online, the decorations get brighter, larger and more and more outrageous. He adds an extremely loud music track, a live nativity and a sleigh with live reindeer.

Meanwhile, Steve Finch is unable to sleep with this late night light and music show and his power is even tapped into by an extension cord Buddy snuck to their house. This, of course, would be enough to drive any neighbor out of his mind but it's just the beginning. Buddy also accidentally burns down Steve's Christmas trees, causes Steve's near death by hypothermia, and unofficially takes over Winterfest.

When you think no more could happen to this pitiful man, his driveway is blocked by constant traffic caused by Buddy's home and Steve's car doors are ripped off. Steve attempts to retaliate (ineffectively) only after receiving no help from local law enforcement. Still, Steve comes out the bad guy in the eyes of the townspeople. This theme and the plot are predictable and seem a poor rehash of other films.

Everything in this movie is farfetched and the events so terrible, it can be uncomfortable to watch. The attempts at humor throughout the movie are poor and sometimes just poor taste. From seeing the commercials, I expected a competition between neighbors to create the best lights display. This, I think, I would've enjoyed more. Chances for humorous and more original story lines are missed and a few fine actors can't save the poor script.

There were only two moments during the film when I laughed. The rest of the theatre crowd was pretty silent too. One couple actually walked out a little over halfway through. Unfortunately, they missed the only redeeming portion of the film, the end. The conclusion is sweet and I suppose the intentions of the filmmakers to have horrible things happen through most of the movie to make the end even sweeter. However, sitting through a not so short hour and 20 minutes of bad cannot be undone with only 10 minutes of good.