Saturday, 6 January 2024

Deck the Halls (2006)

I'd never seen this and (as regular visitors here might know) I shy away from any light-end American comedy films. But I decided to watch this last night - I guess it was the festive spirit (hic!) in me. I'm rather glad I did.

I suppose I was primarily drawn to Danny DeVito, who can do no wrong for me, but actually was then surprised to see how many of the cast I knew from other things. Obviously Matthew Broderick, but also Kristin Chenoweth from Pushing Daisies, Kristin David from Sex and the City and Jorge Garcia from Lost among others. They all do a grand job and pull the film into chaos led by DeVito - and a tale of neighbourly confrontation worthy of The Simpsons, The Odd Couple (and Grumpy Old Men) ensues.

Danny DeVito moves into the neighbourhood, starts a rivalry about covering his house with so many lights that it could be seen from space with Broderick's stuffy, conservative character - you can imagine where it goes with everything that could get out of hand, getting out of hand!

Yeah, OK - it flagged a bit in the last quarter, the notion on which it was based running out of ideas and a sycophantic ending to make a person vomit, but en route it is full of funny comedy and I found myself laughing out loud. (Or maybe it was the Cointreau!)

So yes, it's certainly a 'time of the year' film to watch but I really surprised myself, watching it to the end and honestly enjoying. A hoot indeed.

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