Deck the Halls

I once was asked what's the hardest kind of film to review. I had to think for a minute or so, but my answer was ultimately a strictly average movie. One that doesn't really do anything overly wrong, but doesn't exactly get anything right either. It's just there. Deck the Halls is one such movie. Featherweight and destined to leave your mind the second you walk out the theater doors, the film is just too slight to reach the holiday classic status that it strives for. And yet, the film is watchable, thanks to some scattered chuckle-worthy gags here and there and some likeable performances. The kids are bound to like it, and the accompanying adults will tolerate it. If you're looking for a mild distraction over the Thanksgiving weekend to take the kids to, and they have not already seen the far superior Happy Feet, you could do a lot worse.

The story follows a building holiday rivalry between two neighbors that live across the street from each other. On one side, we have Steve Finch (Matthew Broderick), an Optometrist who for years has been the unchallenged "King of Christmas" in his community. Not only does he manage just about every aspect of his town's decorating and celebrating committee, but he plans out every detail of his own family's holiday festivities months in advance on a day-by-day basis. Into his life enters Buddy Hall (Danny DeVito), a nice enough, yet somewhat shifty car salesman who moves in across the street. Buddy is suffering from somewhat of a mid-life crisis, sad that he will never truly be remembered for anything. That all changes when his twin teenage daughters (Kelly and Sabrina Aldridge) show him a website that can look at any house in the neighborhood through a satellite camera in outer space. Seeing that his house doesn't even show up on the satellite map, Buddy decides that it is his calling to create the most wondrous outdoor Christmas light display known to man - one that is so incredible that it can be seen from outer space. This obviously draws the attention of the entire town and local media, and begins to put Steve's long-standing "Christmas King" title in jeopardy. The two men begin a childish war as Steve tries to sabotage Buddy's ever-growing outdoor display numerous times, and Buddy tries to ruin Steve's reputation in town. It may end up being up to their respective wives (Kristin Davis from TV's Sex and the City and Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth) to remind the two men what Christmas is all about when they get too wrapped up in their petty war that it threatens to tear both of their families apart.

With holiday films released around this time of year becoming increasingly unwatchable (The Santa Clause 3 and Christmas With the Kranks being recent strong offenders), it's somewhat a nice change of pace that Deck the Halls is at least mediocre instead of flat-out terrible. You know things are bad when I consider the fact that a film is mediocre to be a plus, but it cannot be denied. The film's plot is terribly contrived, and many of the jokes are about as easy to predict as predicting that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow. Every now and then, the movie will hit upon a good gag, such as a doctored family Christmas card that doesn't seem very plausible, yet is funny nonetheless. The town sheriff who has a not-so secret affection for wearing women's undergarments beneath his uniform also got a laugh from me. The main problem here is that aside from these brief moments of clever lunacy, director John Whitesell (Big Momma's House 2) and screenwriters Matt Corman, Chris Ord, and Don Rhymer play it strictly by the book. This is a movie that has obviously studied a lot of recent successful holiday comedies (particularly 1989's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, which seems to have been the inspiration for many of the film's more broader comedic scenes), but does very little to set itself apart from the films it derives itself from. You may find yourself wondering why Fox didn't just go all the way and cast Chevy Chase in the Broderick role, and call it a sequel to the Lampoon holiday farce. Regardless, despite a total lack of originality, the movie is mostly harmless and inoffensive.

Maybe if Deck the Halls knew what it was trying to be, it would have stood out more. While the movie is mainly your standard "discover the meaning of Christmas" family comedy for most of its running time, there are moments when it veers into some questionable territory that makes you wonder if perhaps the screenplay was originally intended for a different audience. There is some mild sexual-related humor, including the fact that Buddy's wife used to be a nude art model, that left me scratching my head. Combine this with Buddy's frequently scantily clad twin daughters, whom Broderick's 10-year old son constantly lusts over. It never becomes overly racy or awkward, but I still found myself wondering if that type of humor belonged in a holiday kid's comedy. The film also seems to try to force its way into some fairly tame dark humor as the war between Steve and Buddy increases. This is quickly forgotten, as the movie immediately goes back into family holiday mode, and sets up a highly sentimental and completely ludicrous conclusion that is about as easy to swallow as having a cactus shoved down your throat. Despite the complete implausibility of the film's final 10 minutes, the movie is at least wise enough to let Kristin Chenoweth do what she does best as she leads the cast in a Christmas song, which allows the movie to leave on somewhat of a right note. That's just the kind of movie Deck the Halls is. For everything it does wrong, it will have something come along that doesn't make you completely forget about its faults, but at least makes you smile a little bit more than you were before.

Much like the movie itself, the cast is perfectly standard, with nothing truly standing out about any of the performances. The closest thing to a true stand out comes from the previously mentioned Chenoweth, and that's mainly because of a scene she has late in the film where she confronts her husband Buddy about his obsession and what it is doing to the family. There is a touching sense of honesty in this brief scene between DeVito and her that perhaps the rest of the movie could have used more of. Nonetheless, Chenoweth is fine throughout the rest of the film, even if the script gives her little to do. In the two lead roles, Matthew Broderick is likeable as always, but we've honestly seen him play this exact same character hundreds of times before. He's once again stuck playing the overly nice, if not somewhat bland, guy. He's good at what he does, but he could honestly play this role in his sleep by now. Danny DeVito doesn't get any real memorable lines in the script, but he's still able to make the character stand out with his unique soft-hearted schlub trying to be a tough guy performance. The rest of the performances are fairly nondescript. The children of both families barely register, and Kristin Davis as Broderick's wife is given little to do but react to everything going on around her. It's too bad she's not given at least one good scene like Chenoweth is.

When all is said and done, I most likely won't remember Deck the Halls by the time Christmas rolls around next year. Heck, I question if I will be thinking about it by the time December 25th rolls around in a couple weeks. And yet, it is a step or two above some of the dreck that usually passes for holiday entertainment simply because it at least manages to let a good laugh or two slip in now and then. That may not be the most glowing of praise, but compared to some of the movies I've forced myself to sit through, it at least comes across as if it's actually trying. It's an effort, and its heart is in the right place, but it's not much more than that.

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