The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
Features  |  Reviews
FIND MOVIES
Find a Movie
Movie List
Loading ...
or
Find Theaters and Movie Times
or
Search Movies

Deck the Halls

Lands like a lump of coal
By TOM MEEK  |  November 21, 2006
1.5 1.5 Stars

Somewhere in Western Mass, an anal-retentive optometrist prides himself on being Mr. Christmas. At least, that’s the gimmick in this largely unfunny Yuletide romp where Dr. Finch (Matthew Broderick) oversees a fictitious hamlet’s annual holiday festival and executes family tradition to a T. That is, until Buddy Hall (Danny DeVito) moves in next door with a buxom bombshell of a wife (Kristin Chenoweth) and scantily clad daughters (Kelly and Sabrina Aldridge). It’s gauche versus Yankee tradition, with stoic civility going out the window when Buddy lights up his house bright enough to be seen from (almost) outer space and blares music 24/7. What ensues is an insipid dick-waving contest. Neither patriarch endears, and worse, they’re not even repugnant, just pathetic. Director John Whitesell seems to have lost whatever comic timing he picked up on Big Momma’s House 2. The gags land like lumps of coal, but at least the unnatural mounds of fluffy white snow remain unsullied in the dreck.

On the Web
Deck the Halls's Web site's: http://www.deckthehallsmovie.com/

Related: Interview: Glenn Howerton, The 100 unsexiest men in the world, Intimacy issues, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Health and Fitness, Matthew Broderick, Eyesight and Eye Health,  More more >
  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • RSS feed
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article
Comments

Today's Event Picks
More Information
ARTICLES BY TOM MEEK
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: NINJA ASSASSIN  |  November 25, 2009
    So much blood splashes across the screen in James McTeigue’s martial-arts madness, you’d think the human body consisted of nothing but.
  •   CANNONBALL QUIETS HARVARD QUAD  |  November 04, 2009
    It’s been awhile since we had to worry about the multi-colored national danger spectrum, but last week, the northwestern quadrant of Harvard Square was put on high alert.
  •   REVIEW: WARREN MILLER'S DYNASTY  |  November 04, 2009
    How many death-defying stunts can one behold before they become repetitious? Quite a few, it would seem.
  •   REVIEW: SAW VI  |  October 30, 2009
    Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), the self-righteous serial killer of the long-toothed franchise, may have succumbed to cancer a few films back, but he remains very much alive in plot and presence.
  •   REVIEW: MOTHERHOOD  |  October 22, 2009
    Being a mother can be stressful.

 See all articles by: TOM MEEK

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group