In the 1996 holiday comedy ‘Jingle All The Way,’ workaholic Howard Langston wants to make things up to his son and wife. He promises to get Jamie the hottest toy of the season, Turbo-Man . There’s one little hitch: it’s Christmas Eve and the toy is practically sold out.
As Langston hunts down the elusive gift, he runs into mailman Myron, another father on the same quest. With the clock winding down, Langston’s moral code is tested as he starts to learn the real meaning of Christmas.
Now, ‘Jingle All The Way’ may not be the best Christmas movie out there and was severely planned by critics during its initial run back in 1996. But, the movie is still a fun time for the entire family during the holiday season.
Throughout the movie we see numerous misadventures from Langston and Myron that are actually really funny. As soon as those two characters meet, the fun antics really start.
There are quite a few moments that Langston and Myron end up trying to attack one another while trying to get a Turbo Man. Their first moments together are really funny, especially when Langston makes Myron slip on a remote controlled car. A lot of those scenes where they look for this toy can be cheesy, yet it’s still a fun watch - especially when Langston attacks a bunch of fake Santa’s.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad are both funny in this movie (mainly Sinbad) and their scenes together can really make you laugh. Also, after revisiting this holiday comedy, I almost forgot how funny Sinbad was. This movie also marks one of the last few movies that the late Phil Hartman appeared in.
So, even though ‘Jingle All The Way’ can be on the cheesy side at times, it’s still an enjoyable and funny watch for the whole family during the holiday season!
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger (Howard Langston); Sinbad (Myron Larabee); Phil Hartman (Ted Maltin); Rita Wilson (Liz Langston); Robert Conrad (Officer Hummell); Jim Belushi (Mall Santa); Jamie Lloyd (Jamie Langston)
Writer/director: Randy Kornfield (writer) (Eight Legged Freaks); Brian Levant (director) (A Christmas Story 2; The Spy Next Door; Are We There Yet)
Trivia: Sinbad improvised the majority of his lines. Schwarzenegger also improvised many of his responses in his conversations with him. The world premiere was held on November 16, 1996 at the Mall of America in Bloomington where parts of the movie were shot. 20th Century Fox offered Schwarzenegger the project after development on a potential remake of ‘Planet of the Apes,’ which had been a long time pet project for the actor, fell apart.
Where to find the movie: You can stream ‘Jingle All The Way’ on Hulu and Disney Plus.
*** I hope you have enjoyed the holiday review series that I have been working on throughout the month of December! For the next couple editions, I will be working on a few new releases that the Dietrich Theater will be showing, along with my annual best films of the year list. I will also be checking out a couple recent releases that I haven’t gotten around to checking out, along with a few throwback classic comedies to get us through the cold month of January!***
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