Deck the Halls is strikingly filmed, and the soundtrack is great, but as a film it is quite mean-spirited and unfunny. The story is simple, but it is also predictable, clichéd and mediocre, while the scripting is weak and lacking in laughs, same with the gags which were rather cheap.
The direction was not particularly great either, like the film itself, it was lacking in heart. The ending held no surprises either, I admit I smelt the ending a mile off. And to add insult to injury, the characters are unlikeable and quite obnoxious. Matthew Broderick is flat here, while Danny DeVito is wasted, and he can be funny, so that was a disappointment. In fact only Kristen Chenoweth had any spark. The pacing is uneven, either rushed or languid, and there just isn't enough festive spirit to make Deck the Halls enjoyable.
Overall, bah humbug, this could have been so much better. 2/10 Bethany Cox
The direction was not particularly great either, like the film itself, it was lacking in heart. The ending held no surprises either, I admit I smelt the ending a mile off. And to add insult to injury, the characters are unlikeable and quite obnoxious. Matthew Broderick is flat here, while Danny DeVito is wasted, and he can be funny, so that was a disappointment. In fact only Kristen Chenoweth had any spark. The pacing is uneven, either rushed or languid, and there just isn't enough festive spirit to make Deck the Halls enjoyable.
Overall, bah humbug, this could have been so much better. 2/10 Bethany Cox