deck the halls

Director: john whitesell

Actor: matthew broderick,danny devito,kristin chenoweth,kristin davis

Data Published: Wed Nov 22 2006

Genres: Comedy,Family

Key Words: christmas,christmas lights,christmas display,annoyed neighbor,twin

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790604/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deck_the_Halls_(2006_film)

Description: Deck the Halls is a movie starring Matthew Broderick, Danny DeVito, and Kristin Chenoweth. Two neighbors have it out after one of them decorates his house for the holidays so brightly that it can be seen from space.

Plot: In a small Massachusetts town, local optometrist and Christmas expert Steve Finch (Matthew Broderick) 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. In the dead of night on December 1, new neighbors move in across the street. Steve meets car salesman Buddy Hall (Danny DeVito) and his wife Tia (Kristin Chenoweth) the next morning when Buddy steals Steve's paper. Later that day, Steve's wife Kelly (Kristin Davis) and her daughter Madison (Alia Shawkat) and son Carter (Dylan Blue) go to the Hall house, where they meet their teenage twin daughters, Ashley (Sabrina Aldridge) and Emily (Kelly Aldridge). Tia and Kelly immediately become friends, as do Ashley, Emily, and Madison. That night, Buddy complains to Tia that while he can sell anything, he gets bored quickly. On discovering that the neighborhood can be seen on satellite photos via a website called MyEarth (seemingly a parody of Google Earth) but that his house is not visible, Buddy decides to make it visible using Christmas lights. As his display grows bigger, including live animals, it gets Buddy known around town, upsetting Steve and threatening his position as "the Christmas guy" and chairman of the town's WinterFest. Enmity grows between the men; in various incidents, Steve's Christmas-card photo is ruined, his car doors are ripped off, and his private Christmas-tree lot is destroyed. Eventually Buddy's house is completely lit, and even synchronized to music. Steve attempts to deflate the light show by filling Buddy's fusebox with snow, but a backup generator foils his plan. Buddy discovers the sabotage and gets back at Steve by stealing the town Christmas tree and putting it in Steve's house, and "buying" him a car -- for which he forged Steve's signature to a loan for which Steve is on the hook. 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, Steve pays for the car. Buddy wins, and Steve yells at him for being a nobody, since his house is still not visible from space. Hurt, Buddy compensates by buying a huge amount of programmable LED lights. He pays for this by hocking Tia's expensive heirloom vase, and Tia and the girls depart. Having had enough, Steve buys a variety of fireworks including a large, illegal, military-grade rocket from a gangster and tries to blow up the Hall house. The rocket misfires, setting the Finch house on fire, and Steve's family leaves. Steve and Buddy 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. Soon the whole town helps put Buddy's lights back up in time for a story about them on MTV. They do not work, and everyone sings carols and uses their cell phones as flashlights. As they sing, Carter notices that one of the plugs is not plugged in properly, which explains why the lights did not work. He tightly plugs it in, causing the lights to shine brightly through the night. SuChin Pak, who is doing the MTV report, gets confirmation from MyEarth that the house is indeed visible from space. The crowd celebrates as the film ends.