Deck The Halls

From director John Whitesell (Grounded for Life, Big Momma's House 2) comes a movie for the holiday season. Livening the festive feel is Deck the Halls. It stars Danny DeVito as Buddy Hall, Matthew Broderick as Steve Finch, Kristin Davis as Kelly Finch, and Kristin Chenoweth as Tia Hall.

Buddy wants to find a career that will seem important to him in life. After giving up many jobs, he ends up in Cloverdale, Mass., right across from the Finch's house. Buddy finds out through his daughters that their house isn't visible from space, but their neighbor's is. So Buddy sets forth with plans to make his house visible from space and undermine his neighbor, Steve.

Buddy plans to light up his house for Christmas, which causes a friendly friction with Steve. While both men are engaged in a tug-of-war over who would overshadow the other, their wives and children build up an alliance.

For his part, Buddy tries to do everything to light up his house with thousands of lights. On the other hand, Steve is doing everything to stop him, since it's disturbing the neighborhood. But in the course of fulf lling their egos, the men forget their ultimate joy, their families.

Deck the Halls can be termed as a family movie that might not be appealing to children. The fun moments that children tend to look for are overshadowed by the grown-ups' struggle. Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick fit their characters well, and the young audiences could surely relate them to their own fathers. However, they will soon fade from the children's memory. Yes, the actors do make the audience laugh but the humor is just passable. You can hardly remember any sequence or fun moments after the movie ends, apart from some of its sets. The dazzling house is creative and well-executed. The audience, especially the young ones, will love the visuals.

Deck the Halls is superficial, light entertainment but gives the message that the festive season isn't about jealousy and competition, but of camaraderie and the special moments you spend with your family.

Deck the Halls is surely not a movie that you will remember. However, the movie is certainly successful in portraying the true spirit of the holidays.

Its place at the box-office: To be determined.