Deck the Halls (2006)

Many Christmas movies have made garishly decorated homes a form of one-upsmanship between neighbors. But until Deck the Halls, there hasn't been one where the goal was, quite literally, to have the decorations seen from space. If that seems to give this Matthew Broderick-Danny DeVito vehicle a flicker of originality, don't trust it. These are the same old hijinks seen in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Christmas with the Kranks, Surviving Christmas, and numerous other films designed to make you feel bad during the holiday season. Throw in one other film as a point of comparison: Broderick is, in a way, reprising his flustered everyman from The Cable Guy, forced to navigate the socially retarded ways of an unwitting friend. If this team of screenwriters had chosen to see Broderick's character further down that road, Deck the Halls might have been funnier. Instead, he's nearly as much to blame for the neighborhood fallout as DeVito, even though DeVito launches the initial "hammering nails at 3 a.m." salvo. (Broderick's character becomes a lot less likeable as well when he compels his family to wear matching reindeer sweaters for their Christmas photo). But these are actually Deck the Halls' subtler moments. The film also features an out-of-control novelty sleigh, a mangled automobile, an accidental case of men ogling their own daughters, a speed-skating contest, a fireworks disaster, and not one, not two, not three, not four, but five burning Christmas trees. Deck the Halls deserves some credit for DeVito's escalating methods of turning his home into one giant middle finger at good taste. But as a mainstream product, it can't follow through on any Bad Santa-type convictions, copping out with one of the cheesiest and most logistically improbably endings you're likely to see, even in a genre as far-flung as the Christmas movie. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide