Main Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson, Robert Conrad
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 88 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
The true meaning of Christmas -- desperate last-minute shopping -- is the subject of this holiday-themed comedy. Howard Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a mattress salesman with a bad habit of putting his work ahead of his family. His son Jamie (Jake Lloyd), who wishes Dad would pay more attention to him, wants only one thing for Christmas -- a Turbo Man action figure, with all the accessories. Howard promises both Jamie and his wife Liz (Rita Wilson) that there will indeed be a Turbo Man under the tree for Jamie on Christmas morning, but come December 24, Howard realizes that he hasn't actually bought the toy yet. Seemingly it would be no great problem to head on down to the toy store and pick one up, but it just so happens that Turbo Man has been the hottest ticket of the holiday season, and literally thousands of parents are scrambling for the last few action figures. Howard then spends a hilariously hellish Christmas Eve madly scrambling from store to store in desperate search of a Turbo Man; in the course of his adventures, Howard keeps crossing paths Myron Larabee (Sinbad), a postal worker who wants a Turbo Man even more desperately than Howard. And on the home front, Howard has to worry about Ted Maltin (Phil Hartman), an annoyingly perfect suburbanite obsessed with Christmas who has eyes for Liz. This was the second film for child actor Jake Lloyd, who three years later would gain international attention when he was cast as the young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
A thoroughly enjoyable family comedy, this holiday film represents the high water mark of director Brian Levant's career, one marked by a specialization in light, intentionally fatuous comic fare. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays, as usual, a thinly veiled variation on himself, the "funny" version recognizable from Twins (1988), Kindergarten Cop (1990), and Junior (1994). The rest of the cast plays against the star's mountainous gravity, however, with delightful results; in particular, Phil Hartman has oodles of fun as an oily neighborhood lecher, mocking and lampooning his leading man's stoic demeanor and sheer physical size. As the film's mailman foil, stand-up comic Sinbad is not utilized very well by the script, which never seems quite sure if he's a villain or not. Performances and clear character motivations are beside the point, however, as the script does its job, delivering the gift of many memorably amusing moments. Among them: scenes in which the star is attacked by a rogue band of elves, another in which he's attacked by angry mothers at a mall, and yet another in which he shudders to imagine his son growing up to be a boozing postal worker. There's also some fun with a rented reindeer and Schwarzenegger in a superhero costume, which is probably where he belongs. It's certainly not witty enough for the stage, but Jingle All the Way is a fun seasonal treat that will probably be popping up on cable TV as a December programming staple, one in which weary parental shoppers will grimace and guffaw to recognize themselves. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Thomas Fichter - Art Director, Paula DuPre Pesman - Associate Producer, Judy Taylor - Casting, Joel Kramer - Coordinator, Jay Hurley - Costume Designer, George Parra - First Assistant Director, Brian Levant - Director, Steve Boyum - Second Unit Director, Kent Beyda - Editor, Wilton Henderson - Editor, Richard Vane - Executive Producer, David Newman - Composer (Music Score), Leslie McDonald - Production Designer, Victor J. Kemper - Cinematographer, Chris Columbus - Producer, Mark A. Radcliffe - Producer, Michael Barnathan - Producer, Ronald R. Weiss - Set Designer, John H. Anderson - Set Designer, Edward Tise - Sound/Sound Designer, Glenn Neufeld - Special Effects Supervisor, Gregory L. McMurray - Special Effects Supervisor, Peter Burrell - Unit Production Manager, Randy Kornfield - Screenwriter
Howard Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is often busy at his job, and has a hard time finding time for his wife, Liz (Rita Wilson) and his young son, Jamie (Jake Lloyd) - especially when compared to next door superdad divorcé, Ted Maltin (Phil Hartman). After breaking his word again by missing Jamie's karate grading (from blue to purple), Howard resolves to redeem himself and his marriage by fulfilling Jamie's ultimate Christmas wish, an action figure of Turbo-Man, a popular children TV superhero.
Unfortunately, as is the habit with him, Howard had promised to buy that figure earlier that year and then promptly forgotten about it. To make things even harder, Turbo-Man toys are the must-have gifts of the season, and stocks of Turbo-Man toys are quickly drying up all over the country. Desperate not to disappoint his family again, Howard embarks on an epic city-wide quest to find the toy everyone's looking for. Along the way, Howard encounters Myron Larabee (Sinbad), a postal worker dad with a rival ambition, and the two quickly become bitter competitors in their race for the action figure. The chase begins to arise the ire of a police officer whom Howard keeps running into; Howard desperately hooks up with a band of brand-spoofing crooks and ends up thrashing them; and ultimately, both Howard and Myron cross paths in a false-advertising radio station and end up accidentally blowing up an entire room with one of Myron's letter bombs to escape from the police. In addition, Ted attempts to hit on Liz, which she eventually turns down hard.
The search climaxes with both Howard and Myron coincidentally masquerading as live action stuntmen in a department storeparade. As the "real" Turbo-Man, Howard uses the opportunity to present a coveted limited-edition Turbo-Man doll to his son in the crowd. But before he can recognize his dad, Jamie is chased around the parade by Myron, dressed as Turbo-Man's archnemesis, Dementor. Jamie is ultimately saved by Turbo-Man, who reveals himself as his father, while Myron is arrested, all the while ranting about how he will explain the situation to his son.
Touched by Myron's undying dedication to his own son, Jamie relinquishes the doll to him and confesses that his dad is the only superhero he needs. In the final scene (after the film's end credits have finished) Howard puts the star on his tree and shares a happy moment with his family - until Liz asks him what he got for her. This causes Howard to look at the camera with a look of horror on his face, as he realizes he forgot to get Liz a gift.
The film received mostly negative reviews from critics. The film garnered an 18% "Rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with 32 negative reviews out of 39 counted.[2] Brian Levant was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director; however, Sinbad won the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor in a Family film.[3]
Opening in 2,401 theaters, Jingle All the Way made $12.1 million in its first weekend; it went on to gross just under $130 million worldwide, recouping its $60 million budget.[4]
The film also airs annually on Disney-owned assets, ABC and ABC Family. As an experiment in 2004, much like TNT and TBS had done with A Christmas Story, FX ran Jingle All The Way for 24 consecutive hours.
