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:

Holiday | Neighbor | Christmas | Light | Christmas Lights

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

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 | Netherlands:6

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Regency Enterprises

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: At the end of the film following the light switch-on, Tia can be seen blowing out the candle she is holding. When the camera returns to her, her candles is lit.

Quotes:

Buddy Hall: I want my house to be seen from space!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2006-11-25)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Star Spangled Banner

This could have been a classic in better hands and minus Matthew Broderick

Matthew Broderick plays an anal retentive eye doctor who lives for Christmas. Danny DeVito moves in across the street and decides to put enough lights on his house so that it can be seen from space. Not the nightmare some reviews made it out to be this is a movie that shows too many signs of being messed with. Its clear that the producers had no idea what type of movie that wanted to make. The style of comedy varies from scene to scene as do the performances as if they were going with what ever they wanted for that day.Matthew Broderick is awful as the uptight jerk who wants things a certain way for tradition. Its a bad part badly played. frankly why his family hadn't left him prior to this is beyond me. DeVito as a super salesman who gets bored easily is fine (hence the lights). He's not the monster some have said and actually has a character to play. The rest of the cast is fine doing what ever they are doing. More misfire than disaster, this is ultimately a forgettable movie- and one that could be remade into a a holiday semi-classic in the right hands.