Here’s some bah, with an extra dollop of humbug from an ice-hearted critical scrooge who has just endured his 53rd Christmas film of the season. Yes, it’s Hollywood and ivy time again and this time round, Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito have been roped in to square off over the thorny issue of Chrimbo lights.
Within that thrilling scenario, DeVito squeezes the sleaze out of his usual sleaze ball to play a driven car salesman trying to brighten up his house so it can be seen from space, while Broderick’s a control freak optician used to ruling the roost over his town’s festivities. The one-note narrative builds, shoehorning in spitting camels, crashing sleighs and pratfalls aplenty until both men realise the true meaning of... oh, you know.
This is the perfect film for children who made the naughty list – drag them to the cinema, where they can sit in stony-faced silence thinking about what they’ve done.
