Jingle All the Way *** (1996, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Jake Lloyd) – Classic Movie Review 575

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1996 Christmas present Jingle All the Way is an agreeable seasonal action comedy that just about jingles enough bells to be a happy family fun experience. He plays overworked businessman Howard Langston, a dad who just can’t seem to find enough time to spend with his family because he is too busy at his job as a salesman for a mattress company.

Now he wants to make it all better by trying to beat off the opposition to find a prized action doll to give his son Jamie (Jake Lloyd). The trouble is that it is Christmas Eve and Turbo Man has been sold out since Thanksgiving! Plus they have a touchy-feely neighbour, Ted (Phil Hartman), a perfect father who even brought home a reindeer for his son this year. Howard ends up breaking into Ted’s house to steal the Turbo Man doll that was supposed to be for Johnny (E J De La Pena).

Arnie is amusing enough, the support cast is excellent and there are quite a few seasonal laughs to be found with some funny sequences and good gags, though it is a shame that the rather violently knockabout and Randy Kornfield’s consumer-minded script is as often miss as it is hit. Anyhow, its heart is in the right place and it would be very hard indeed to dislike.

The main cast are Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson, Robert Conrad, James Belushi, Martin Mull, Harvey Korman, Laraine Newman, Jake Lloyd, E J De La Pena, Justin Chapman, Richard Moll, Daniel Riordan and Jeff L Deist.

Happy holidays! God bless us, every one!

Jingle All the Way has two versions. The release print runs at 89 minutes and the director’s cut runs 94 minutes. It is directed by Brian Levant.

Lloyd went on to play Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) and in 2008 was attending Columbia College Chicago as a Film Major.

© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Movie Review 575

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