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Deck the Halls By David DiCerto Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- Director John Whitesell fails to generate much holiday cheer with "Deck the Halls" (20th Century Fox), a comedy which, though containing enough Christmas lights to trim the fabled Rockefeller Center tree 10 times over, delivers only low-wattage laughs. Matthew Broderick is Steve Finch, an optometrist living an obsessively ordered life in suburban Massachusetts where he is adored by his patients and popular with the townsfolk for his yuletide zeal. But, though well-intentioned, his hard-and-fast holiday traditions -- garish Christmas sweaters are mandatory -- elicit groans from wife Kelly (Kristin Davis), teenage daughter Madison (Alia Shawkat) and son Carter (Dylan Blue). Steve's Christmas enthusiasm is further tested by the arrival of Buddy Hall (Danny DeVito), an itinerant salesman who moves in next door with his wife, Tia (Kristin Chenoweth), and twin teenage daughters. Tired of "being invisible," Buddy decides to decorate his house with enough Christmas lights to be seen from outer space. The gaudy display -- which grows to include a living lawn Nativity and nightly light show synchronized to blaring music -- begins to draw crowds. Soon it's Buddy everyone is asking for holiday advice, challenging Steve's reign as "king of Christmas." It escalates to open war as the two men try to outdo each other, even at the risk of losing what matters most to them, their families. Whitesell decks his plot with lots of clumsy slapstick -- like a runaway sleigh ride sequence -- and a few off-color gags that seem out of place in a PG Christmas movie: the town sheriff (Garry Chalk) is a closet cross-dresser; and, in one scene, Steve and Buddy ogle a trio wearing sexy Santa suits only to realize that the long legs belong to their own daughters. (Adding irreverence to inanity, the men then go to a church and wash their eyes out with holy water.) The film ultimately proves that its heart is in the right place with an earnest endorsement of home, family and friendship. And while a secular view of Christmas dominates, Whitesell does at least acknowledge the true meaning of the season by having Chenoweth (a committed Christian) bring things to a predictably sentimental close with a reverent rendition of "O Holy Night" as opposed to some nonreligious carol. Interspersed clips from "Miracle on 34th Street" and "Meet Me in St. Louis" may make you long for holiday movies of a more classic vintage. The film contains some mildly crude language and humor, including a few suggestive images and a lightly irreverent sight gag, innuendo and an instance of profanity, limiting its suitability to older adolescents and up. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children. - - - DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. More reviews are available online at www.usccb.org/movies. END Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250 |
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