Deck the Halls
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Movie Reviews of Deck the Halls
Movie Review: Dreck The Halls
Summary: 2 Stars
Holiday movies like "A Christmas Story", "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", "Miracle On 34th Street", and "It's A Wonderful Life", are all perennial holiday favorites and classics because they are good movies. They have warmth, humor, and a genuineness to them. But some filmmakers think all you need are a bunch of twinkling lights, some snow, and a guy in a Santa suit to be a great holiday film, no matter what. This film is one of those. There isn't anything even remotely funny about the film or it's situation. Everything looks too pristine and plastic. So do the characters. Sure it's digestible enough fluff, but you can only take so much before you are an overstuffed candy cane filled to the brim of lights and Christmas 'this' and Christmas 'that'. I love Christmas. It's my time of the year. But this movie just felt wrong. It had a fun enough premise. Matthew Broderick is the "Christmas guy" in his little town, until new neighbor Buddy Hall(Danny DeVito), moves in across the street. Buddy wants to do something special. He wants to be noticed. He wants his house to be seen from outer space, and he figures he can do that by filling every nook and cranny of his house with Christmas lights and assorted decorations. Obviously, this doesn't sit well with Broderick, being de-throned as Christmas king. The premise has all the potential in the comedy world for some fun humor and slapstick, but it all seems as flat as egg nog come January. For a film about a joyous season and heart, it feels devoid of anything joyous or heartfelt. When it tries to be warm and have heart, it just doesn't ring true. It seems as fake as the snow in the movie. The movie has a good cast, and that's what makes it's failures all the more noticeable and disappointing. Danny DeVito, Matthew Broderick, Kristin Davis, and Kristin Chenoweth are all great people, but they fail to deliver anything in their respective roles. Each one seems to be going thru the motions. It's really an accomplishment to make the usually fun and bubbly Chenoweth...um, not. The movie is all window dressing with nothing underneath and nowhere to go. Did I laugh at all?. I did like Broderick's daughter(Arrested Development's Alia Shawkat)threatening to call the children's welfare bureau(or something like that)over him making her wear a Christmas sweater for the family photo. That's about it. Deck the halls?. Nah. Let's hope for some better trimmings next Christmas.Movie Review: At least it was a Green X-ma$ for Broderick and DeVito!
Summary: 2 Stars
I really like watching Christmas movies. In part because I like Christmas, but also because I like to see how Christmas and our celebration of it is portrayed over time. It's gone from a reverential celebration of religion and family to a funny(or not) analysis of modern obsessive behavior and over-consumption. Then there are movies like these, which are just time killers. This is Christmas as Product.
It has a few watchable moments. Kristin Chenowith is plenty hot as always and gets to sing a teeny little bit and Kristin Davis is the most adorable lil mannequin come-to-life since her SATC partner originated that act years ago. There is one bit in particular which made me laugh. It's horrible and if you're a father you should hope it never happens to you. I won't ruin it for you but I will say in the next scene DeVito and Broderick are in a church washing their eyes out with holy water, with good reason. It's one of the few scenes that show any signs of life, which is too bad because this thing could have used many more.
Mostly though the movie is lackluster. It doesn't have the manic energy of a Christmas Vacation or the heart warming nostalgia of Christmas Story or the black, outrageous humor of Bad Santa or the child-like joy and goofiness of Elf. It has a few badly paced jokes and more than its share of sleep walking actors. The pace and performances were so slow and half hearted that I felt like I was watching the entire movie through a Valium induced haze.
The movie has no real heart or message, or insight and it's not very funny. It's a place holder, the studio needed to put out something for the Christmas movie-going audience so they cranked up the Eszterhas 3000, set it for "HOLIDAY" and extruded this....."movie". Pretend it's a Christmas stocking folks, and STUFF IT!
Movie Review: clipped together from other movies
Summary: 2 Stars
Haven't I seen this movie before? The obnoxious new neighbor, the feud between neighbors, the neighbor with so many Christmas lights you can't sleep, the guy who ends up destroying his own house in his fight against someone else, etc., etc.
Deck the Halls takes a tried-and-true plot (or rather, a combination of elements from tried-and-true plots) and adds absolutely nothing new. The performances were fine, and it had funny moments, but it was also absolutely predictable, which was a huge distraction from the comedy. It's hard to be amused when you know exactly what's coming next.
There's a bit of an attempt to make the movie about both men trying to find meaning in their lives, but there's nothing really character-specific in it, and it gets lost among the cliches.
I love holiday movies, but this one won't make it into my collection.
Movie Review: Not warm and fuzzy
Summary: 2 Stars
We love Christmas movies and watch them many times. We were excited to get this since it had a "feel good" kind of review. Although the movie has it's Laugh out Loud moments, they were few and far between. It is an ever loved National Lampoon's Christmas vacation "wannabe". There is no chemistry between the characters and no warmth about this movie at all. Although it was watchable, it is not going to become a Christmas favorite. I doubt we will watch it again. If I had rented it first, I would not have bought it.Movie Review: Movie goes nowhere with no laughs
Summary: 2 Stars
The movie has a fast paced beginning and feels like a decent promise.
However, absolutely nothing humourous happens, and there are tons of non-sequiters. The script gets very lazy and just hops from one scene to the next without rhyme or reason. Broderick sleep walks and Devito is rusty.
A big disapointment!