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"Feuding Patriarchs
Missing Out on the Good
Stuff..." |
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Directed by John
Whitesell - Written by
Don Rhymer
Starring Danny DeVito,
Matthew Broderick,
Kristin Chenoweth,
Kristin Davis
Alia Shawkat, Sabrina
Aldridge, Kelly Aldridge
Distributed by Fox -
2006 - 90m - Rated PG |
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Richard Propes'
Review
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This year, Hollywood is giving us a remake of that Christmas horror
classic "Black Christmas." |
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I can't wait. I have a
long-standing holiday tradition of seeing a horror film every single
Christmas day. Most years, there's a fresh one in the theatres. Some
years, sadly, I've had to settle for renting a horror film on
Christmas day. Nonetheless, for nearly 20 years, this holiday
tradition has existed in my life and I've eagerly been anticipating
the arrival of the new "Black Christmas."
The sad thing is that I've already seen the most horrifying holiday
film this Christmas. "Deck the Halls," yet another in a long line of
holiday mayhem films, opened this Thanksgiving weekend and, without
a doubt, is more horrific than anything destined to be found in
"Black Christmas."
Starring Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick, "Deck the Halls" is the
story of Dr. Finch (Broderick), an uptight optometrist in
Cloverdale, Massachusetts, who prides himself on being the town's
guardian of Christmas, and Buddy Hall (DeVito), who moves in across
the street and starts a neighborhood war that plays a lot like at
least one holiday film we've seen in each of the past several years.
What bothers me most about "Deck the Halls" is that this film should
have worked. Both Broderick and DeVito have played these sorts of
roles before, and they both have proven able to do so with
tremendous likeability, humor and a sort of "aw, shucks" charm that
makes it hard to turn away.
Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to not turn away as "Deck the
Halls" is filled with uncomfortable dialogue, dead situations and
cardboard supporting characters that seem to exist only to support
underdeveloped plotlines.
Director John Whitesell ("Big Momma's House 2" and "Malibu's Most
Wanted") seems to have no concept of comic timing (which should have
been known from his previous work), and completely fails to take
advantage of both Broderick and Devito's ability to pull of physical
comedy, sincerity and broadly comic scenes. It's impossible to watch
the film without thinking to yourself "Wow, that really should have
been funny." Instead, the laughs are remarkably sporadic and
numerous scenes just play out with almost no response at all.
How can you combine Matthew Broderick, Danny DeVito, a
cross-dressing sheriff, a live nativity scene with camels, a used
car salesman, the same used car salesman (DeVito) determined to have
his house seen from space and sexy teen twin sisters and end up with
a film that barely has a single laugh in it? How? How does this
possibly happen?
How do you have Matthew Broderick looking uncomfortable doing
physical comedy when physical comedy and wit are his gifts? How do
you have Danny DeVito simultaneously playing a used car salesman who
can sell a car to his own boss but who's so insecure his entire
self-esteem becomes wrapped up in Christmas lights?
Does anything here actually make sense.
Well, ummmm, no...actually, it doesn't.
The immensely talented Kristin Chenoweth, who just played this
identical character in "RV" with Robin Williams, is completely
wasted as DeVito's loving yet frustrated wife and Kristin Davis
basically recreates her loving/loyal mom/wife from the recent "The
Shaggy Dog" with Tim Allen. Both actresses are given almost nothing
to do, though they are given a few brief moments to shine towards
the film's end.
Most of the young roles, as well, are underdeveloped though
real-life twins Sabrina and Kelly Aldridge do manage to show off a
strong screen presence despite limited screen time.
"Deck the Halls" was headed comfortably for my Bottom 10 of 2006
when, out of nowhere, the film headed towards a surprisingly
effective sentimentality in the film's last 15 minutes. In fact, the
film is the perfect example of why a film shouldn't be
rated/reviewed unless it is seen in its entirety. Prior to the
film's last 15 minutes, a D- or F rating and definite placement in
my 2006 Bottom 10 was inevitable. In the film's last 15 minutes,
"Deck the Halls" shifts away from the forced physical comedy and
awkward set-ups, and instead allows the entire cast to relax and
actually relate to one another. While this focus shift doesn't
rescue the film, it certainly saves it from this year's "Hall of
Shame."
"Deck the Halls" is the kind of film that will leave you fondly
remembering other films, even not so great ones. It contains a
myriad of scenes that will remind you of such films as "Surviving
Christmas," "Christmas with the Kranks" and such non-Christmas fare
as "What About Bob?" and any number of nightmare neighbor films. In
virtually every instance, the film you recall will have pulled off
the scene far more successfully than Whitesell does here in "Deck
the Halls."
In a year that will bring us the return of a Christmas horror
classic, "Deck the Halls" is the real horror film of the 2006
holiday season. |
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© Written by Richard Propes -
Email Me! |
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How We Rated This Film
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TC Candler -
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Jacob Hall
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TC Candler's Comment
n/a
Jacob Hall's
Comment
n/a
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