Synopsis
Steve and his new neighbour, Buddy, try to outdo each other in decorating their houses for Christmas. However, Buddy’s extravagantly-decorated house overshadows Steve’s, causing a conflict.
Cast
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
Best Character
I love Tia, she’s definitely one of the more stand-out characters in the film. She literally holds a knife up to her husband and jokingly threatens him. It shouldn’t be funny but she’s just so charismatic.
Best Supporting/Obscure Character
I kinda love Gustav and Gerta. Every scene they are in is pure chaos. The Christmas carols they request such as “the ignorant snowman” are so funny. That’s a real stand-out moment of the two of them.
Favourite Scene
Steve in the uncontrollable sleigh is an absolute classic. I feel like most Christmas films have a scene similar to this one. He’s got to be one of the unluckiest characters in film history, he does deserve some of it though.
The trees setting on fire is both sad and hilarious at the same time. I feel quite bad for the Finch’s but at the same time Steve is so uptight I can’t help but find it a bit funny.
I love Winterfest it’s so festive and the speed skating scene is obviously very funny.
The light display is obviously a huge moment in the film so it needs to be mentioned.
Best Quotes/Lines
TIA: [about her daughters] I pray every day for the strength to not run them over with the truck.
I don’t even have kids and I find this line hilarious.
BUDDY: What do you got going here?
ASHLEY: It’s MyEarth. You type in an address and you can see every house in the country from space.
BUDDY: Really?
TIA: Emily’s used it to track the five hottest guys in school.
EMILY: Yeah. Three of them live two blocks away.
ASHLEY: Wow. That’s more math than you’ve done in years. Did it hurt?
Typical sibling behaviour. Tjos reminds me of my sister and me when we were teenagers.
BUDDY: Is it getting hot out here or is it just you girls? Oh, nice dip.
STEVE: Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about! Hey, baby, who’s your daddy? [SHOUTS] Who’s your daddy? Oh, God. I’m your daddy. I’m your daddy! I’m your daddy. Oh, God!
I can’t tell if this moment is funnier than it is cringe. The second-hand embarrassment is almost too much but when they wash their eyes with holy water, that’s when it gets real funny.
FIREWORK SELLER: What’s this for, man?
STEVE: I’m gonna shoot them at my neighbour’s house and hopefully give him a heart attack.
FIREWORK SELLER: Cool.
I love the nonchalant nature of this interaction. The firework guy could not care less what he’s doing with it, even though it’s a military-grade firework.
Most Iconic Outfit
There is not a single outfit in this film I would consider iconic. Early 2000s fashion just was not it, was it?
Best Musical Moment
Jingle bells playing while steve drives his destroyed car. It’s not funny until it gets to ‘one horse open sleigh’ and it pans out and you can fully see the lack of doors.
Thoughts/Opinions That Don’t Fit Into A Specific Category
Imagine how obnoxious this situation would be in real life. I can understand the frustration Steve feels but he never tried to have an actual conversation with Buddy about it.
Saying that, Buddy is a terrible person. The whole thing with the car and the tree was too far, Steve could have been arrested.
There are quite a few outdated moments in this that I won’t bring up because frankly they aren’t appropriate. However, this film is quite nostalgic for me, but it really is showing the fact its from the early 2000s. I genuinely remember this film being funnier, maybe my love for it has more to do with childhood nostalgia.
Check out Young Creative Press on all socials
You can also check out my StoryGraph here
Like this post? Why not read this one too: The Best Of: 2021 Festive Reads
Oh, I forgot all about this movie. I used to love it!
[…] Like this post? Why not read this one too: Christmas Classics: Deck the Halls […]