
Deck the Halls is a 2006 family comedy film set during the Christmas season in Massachusetts. It stars Danny DeVito, Matthew Broderick, Kristin Davis, and Kristin Chenoweth and was directed by John Whitesell.
Synopsis
Local eye doctor and Christmas expert Steve Finch wants his kids to have a great Christmas, packed with Steve's tried and true traditions, such as using an advent calendar, taking Christmas card pictures in matching sweaters, and getting a large tree. At night, he hears noises. He looks out his window and sees a moving truck. He and his wife Kelly immediately know that "the new neighbors are moving in." In the morning, when Steve goes to get his paper, he is startled to see someone on his doorstep, stealing the paper, which causes him to spill coffee on himself. The stranger is his new neighbor Buddy Hall, a car salesman. Steve and Kelly also meet Buddy's wife Tia. Later that day, Kelly, her daughter Madison and son Carter go to the Halls' house, where they meet Tia & Buddy's children, Ashley & Emily. Tia & Kelly immediately become friends, as do Ashley, Emily and Madison. That night, the Hall girls discover a website called MyEarth, which shows satellite images of any place from space (seemingly a parody of Google Earth). The Hall house is not visible, so Buddy decides to make it visible using Christmas lights. Due to his lights, Buddy becomes known around the town. Steve is not happy about this as he is considered "the Christmas guy" and is chairman of the town's WinterFest. Buddy also purchases a large horsedrawn sleigh, and finds horses to pull it. The Finches come to see the sleigh, and are invited to take their Christmas pictures in the sleigh. Steve declines, but Carter enters the sleigh anyway. In attempt to get Carter "out of that metal death trap" he frightens the horses, who pull him around town, finally plunging into a frozen river. Steve wakes up to find himself naked, zipped into a sleeping bag with Buddy, who is also naked. Buddy explains that he is giving Steve body heat in order to keep him from dying. Steve then starts screaming. Buddy's house is eventually completely lit, and synchronized to music. Steve has had enough with being kept awake each night, and finally fills Buddy's fuse box with snow. His plan is foiled, due to a backup generator.
Buddy and Steve make a bet: if Steve beats Buddy in the WinterFest speedskating race, then Buddy removes the lights, and if Buddy beats Steve, he buys a car from Buddy. Buddy wins, and Steve yells at Buddy for being a nobody, since the Hall house is still not visible from Space. Steve finally buys a large amount of fireworks and a large illegal military grade firework from a gangster and tries to blow up the Hall house. The rocket misfires, and sets the Finch house on fire. Kelly, Carter, Madison, Tia, Ashley, and Emily all decide to stay at a motel to salvage the Christmas. Buddy and Steve forget their rivalry, and build a winter wonderland with all of Buddy's lights and lure Tia, Kelly, and the kids home. They all sit down to a nice meal. But, the whole town helps put Buddy's lights back up in time for a story about them on MTV. The lights don't work, and they all sing carols and use their cell phones as flashlights. As the group sings, Carter notices that one of the plugs of the lights is not plugged in, and this is why the lights do not work. He plugs in the light, causing them to shine brightly through the night. SuChin Pak, who is doing the MTV report, gets confirmation that the house is indeed visible from space. The crowd celebrates as it ends.
Music
Soundtrack
Song title | Performed by |
---|---|
"Santa Baby" | Transcenders featuring Terry Dexter |
"Brighter Lights" | Transcenders featuring J7 D Star |
"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" | Brenda Lee |
"Joy to the World" |
|
"The Holly and the Ivy" | Matthew Broderick |
"Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" | |
"Run Rudolph Run" | Mark Doc Dauer |
"Jingle Bells" | The Lennon Sisters |
"Up on the Housetop" | George S. Clinton |
"Deck the Halls" | Gary Hoey |
"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" | Dr. Elmo |
"Frosty the Snowman" | Alvin and the Chipmunks |
"Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" (from the Nutcracker Suite Op. 71a) |
The Langley Ukulele Ensemble |
"The Star Spangled Banner" | |
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" | |
"Silent Night" | Jeff Cardoni featuring Diane Gordon |
"O Holy Night" | Kristin Chenoweth and Cast |
"Sing Out, Shout with Joy" | Joy |
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" (uncredited) | |
"O Tannenbaum" (uncredited) |
Home media releases
Cast
Actor(s)/actress(es) | Character(s) |
---|---|
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 |
Garry Chalk | Sheriff Dave |
Nicola Peltz | Mackenzie |
Zak Santiago | Fireworks Guy |
David Lewis Lochlyn Munro (uncredited) |
Ted |
Daniel Bacon | Ed |
Ken Kramer | Mr. Murray |
Jill Morrison | Gail |
Alfred E. Humphreys | Hardware store Employee |
Brenda M. Crichlow Jill Kril |
Newsreporters |
Agam Darshi | Newsproducer |
David Stuart | Oblivious Da |
Quinn Lord | Kid with Santa |
Nathaniel DeVeaux | Main St. Passerby |
Fulvio Cecere | Town Passerby |
Eliza Norbury | Mary in the Manger |
Randi Lynne Dan Joffre Aurora Faulkner-Killam Melissa Howell Lori Johnson David Shaw Myles Wolfe |
Carolers |
Ty Olsson | Trucker |
Stephen Holmes | UPS Guy |
Andrew Hedge | City Employee |
Cory Monteith | Madison's date |
Uncredited | |
Aaron Craven | Dad (Businessman) |
Blair Gorrell | Carnival Fan |
Rachel Li | Spectator |
Kal Penn | Amit Sayid (Satellite Computer Tech) |
Caroline Redekopp | Mackenzie's Mother |
Arden Rhine | Background Performer |
Calum Worthy | Boy with Bike |
*</nowiki> - Winner of the 2007 Young Artist Award for Best Actor (Age 10 & up) in a Feature Film.
External links
content from Wikipedia (view authors). |
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