Deck the Halls (2006 film)
Deck the Halls | |
---|---|
20th Century Fox | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $51 million[1] |
Box office | $47.2 million[1] |
Deck the Halls is a 2006 American
Plot
In the fictional town of Cloverdale, Massachusetts, optometrist and self-proclaimed Christmas expert Steve Finch wants his family, consisting of wife Kelly, daughter Madison, and son Carter, to have a great Christmas, filled with traditions such as using an Advent calendar, taking Christmas card pictures in matching sweaters, and buying a large tree.
In the middle of the night on December 1, new neighbors move in across the street:
Buddy goes to work as a used car salesman, where he sells a car to the owner of the
Steve's envy towards Buddy increases; in various incidents, Steve's Christmas-card photo is ruined when two of Buddy's
Buddy and Steve make a bet: if Steve beats Buddy in the WinterFest
Having had enough, Steve buys various
and tries to destroy the Hall house. The rocket misfires, setting the town Christmas tree on fire, and Steve's family leaves, but not before Kelly scolds Steve for ignoring his children to focus on Buddy.Steve discovers Buddy has been stealing the former's power for the latter's lights. However, after seeing Buddy taking down his lights, a remorseful Steve forgives Buddy. The two forget their rivalry and build a winter wonderland with all of Buddy's lights. They lure Tia, Kelly, and the kids home and all sit down to a nice meal made by both Steve and Buddy.
Soon, the whole town arrives at Buddy's house to help put Buddy's lights back up in time for a story about them on
Cast
- Danny DeVito as Buddy Hall
- Matthew Broderick as Dr. Steve Finch
- Kristin Davis as Kelly Finch
- Kristin Chenoweth as Tia Hall
- Alia Shawkat as Madison Finch
- Dylan Blue as Carter Finch
- Jorge Garcia as Wallace
- Fred Armisen as Gustave
- Gillian Vigman as Gerta
- Ryan Devlin as Bob Murray
- Kelly Aldridge as Ashley Hall
- Sabrina Aldridge as Emily Hall
- Lochlyn Munro as Ted Beckham
- Sean O'Bryan as Mayor Young
- Jackie Burroughs as Mrs. Ryor
- Garry Chalk as Sheriff Dave
- Nicola Peltz as Mackenzie
- Kal Penn as Amit Sayid
- Cory Monteith as Madison's Date
- Zak Santiago as Fireworks Dealer
- Jill Krop as herself
- SuChin Pak as herself
Production
Filming
The film was originally entitled All Lit Up, and while it was set in the
In the scene in which Steve and Buddy are in a speedskating race, Matthew Broderick had to train with a real Olympic speed skater trainer for a few weeks before he could film that scene. He trained at Chelsea Piers in New York.[2]
Reception
Box office
The film grossed $35.1 million in North America and $12.1 million in other territories for a total of $47.2 million, against a budget of $51 million, making it a box office failure where it only earned back 91.8% of its total budget.[3]
The film grossed $12 million in its opening weekend, finishing fourth at the box office.
Critical response
Deck the Halls was panned by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 6% based on 85 reviews with an average rating of 3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Relying on flat humor and a preposterous plot, Deck the Halls is an unnecessarily mean-spirited holiday movie that does little to put viewers in a holiday mood."[4] This was the third-worst reviewed Christmas movie on the site, after The Nutcracker in 3D and Christmas with the Kranks, respectively.[5] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 28 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[6] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.[7]
Roger Moore of the
"You can't believe how excruciatingly awful this movie is. It is bad in a way that will cause unfortunate viewers to huddle in the lobby afterward, hugging in small groups, consoling one another with the knowledge that it's over, it's over -- thank God, it's over. [...] Compared to the honest hard labor performed by tens of millions of Americans every day, a film critic's job is like a winning lottery ticket. But there IS work involved, and it can be painful -- and the next time someone tells me I have the best job in the world, I'm going to grab them by the ear, fourth-grade-teacher-in-1966-style, and drag them to see Deck the Halls."
Accolades
The film was nominated for three Golden Raspberry Awards:
- Worst Excuse For Family Entertainment
- Worst Supporting Actor(Danny DeVito)
- Worst Supporting Actress(Kristin Chenoweth).
See also
References
- ^ a b "Deck the Halls (2016)". The Numbers. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
- ^ "Matthew Broderick Talks Deck the Halls". 22 November 2006.
- ^ "Deck the Halls". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 7, 2009.
- ^ "Deck the Halls (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
- ^ "The Worst of Christmas Movies". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
- ^ "Deck the Halls Reviews". Metacritic.
- ^ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.
External links
- Deck the Halls at IMDb
- Deck the Halls at AllMovie
- Deck the Halls at Rotten Tomatoes