Deck the Halls

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Deck the Halls ★½ 2006 (PG)

Joyless holiday fare pumped out by the studio to scrooge a few dollars from the Christmas mall crowd. Steven (Broderick) is the smug, self-appointed “Christmas guy” of a sleepy New England town, making sure the holidays are celebrated tastefully. His crass neighbor Buddy (DeVito) wants to put enough lights on his house so that it can be seen from space. A war of childish pranks erupts between the two until a forced lesson on the “true meaning of Christmas” is tacked onto the ending. File this one in the Bastard Children of “Christmas Vacation” folder. 93m/C DVD . US Danny DeVito, Matthew Broderick, Kristen Davis, Kristin Chenoweth, Alia Shawkat, Jorge Garcia, Dylan Blue, Kelly Aldridge, Sabrina Aldridge; D: John Whitesell; W: Don Rhymer, Matt Corman, Chris Ord; C: Mark Irwin; M: George S. Clinton.