Deck the Halls (2006)

User Rating:

4.4/10   

Director:

John Whitesell

Writers (WGA):

Matt Corman (written by) &
Chris Ord (written by) ...

Release Date:

22 November 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family

Tagline:

There glows the neighborhood

Plot:

Two neighbors have it out after one of them decorates his house for the holidays so brightly that it can be seen from space.

Plot Keywords:

Annoyed Neighbor | Holiday | Outer Space | Battle | Christmas Tree

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Oct. 12	3:15 PM	HBO
Sat. Oct. 18	10:30 AM	HBO

Cast

Danny DeVito	...	Buddy Hall
Matthew Broderick	...	Steve Finch
Kristin Davis	...	Kelly Finch
Kristin Chenoweth	...	Tia Hall
Alia Shawkat	...	Madison Finch
Dylan Blue	...	Carter Finch
Kelly Aldridge	...	Ashley Hall
Sabrina Aldridge	...	Emily Hall
Jorge Garcia	...	Wallace
Fred Armisen	...	Gustave
Gillian Vigman	...	Gerta
Ryan Devlin	...	Bob Murray
Sean O'Bryan	...	Mayor Young
SuChin Pak	...	Herself
Jackie Burroughs	...	Mrs. Ryor

Also Known As:

All Lit Up (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some crude and suggestive humor, and for language.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Ireland:PG | Singapore:PG | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Australia:PG | Sweden:Btl | USA:PG (certificate #42974) | Portugal:M/6 | Germany:o.Al. | Finland:K-3 | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Holy Trinity Cathedral - 514 Carnarvon Street, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

All Lit Up Productions

Trivia:

DeVito's house used LED lights to provide remarkable displays not possible with traditional Christmas lights. Otherwise, the lighting could only be done by special effect computers. The lights, from Boston-based Color Kinetics, formed a "digital skin" around DeVito's house, acting like pixels on a TV screen. At one point, the roof of DeVito's house turned into a live video display of DeVito's face. At maximum intensity, the 14,300 LED nodes used just 7,150 watts of energy, the equivalent of four average hair dryers. Wrapping the house with conventional exterior string lights would have used approximately 100,100 watts, 14 times more than the LED installation, and without the capability for programmable effects. The entire LED installation used a total of 126 amps, about as much as 1.3 average households. Conventional exterior string lights would have used 812 amps, the equivalent of 8 houses' worth of power.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kelly Finch first shows Steve the cards that Buddy made from a picture taken at the hospital, the picture shows Steve with a sweater draped over him and you can see his right shoulder. Then they show a close-up of the picture and Steve is wearing the sweater with his shoulders covered.

Quotes:

Mrs. Ryor: [receiving an eye exam from Dr. Finch] I don't need glasses!
Steve Finch: You need binoculars, but were settling for glasses.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: The Worst of 2006" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Up on the Housetop

A comedy with no humor...

...unless you're maybe 8 years old, in which case the sight gags might keep you amused. For a while. Matthew Broderick should be ashamed for getting himself mixed up in a mess like this. He's good at playing straight men, but his deadpan delivery of this lousy script will have you checking your watch frequently. It's a particular waste of his comedy talent, which is well-documented. Danny DeVito once again demonstrates that his career peaked about 10 years ago as he mopes his way through the story. Just when you think you've got his character figured out, he does something that takes you back to square one. Is he a nice guy? A scumbag? A criminal? It could be any of those things, or none. God knows the ending doesn't give you any ultimate idea. I don't really know, and I don't really care. Avoid this film unless you have nothing better to do at the mall except wait for a swollen molar to subside. It's about the only thing that seems less appealing than sitting through this turkey.