Jingle All the Way (1996)

Jingle All the Way (1996)

5/10

Starring

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Sinbad

Phil Hartman

Rita Wilson

Directed by Brian Levant

Jingle All the Way, for me at age eleven, was everything fun. It had Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was landing comedy roles well at the time, and Sinbad, whom I recall from the TV series A Different World. I enjoyed it a lot back then, and I'm indifferent to it now.
It’s not a classic Christmas movie like It’s A Wonderful Life (1964), but for me, I get to enjoy it every now and again, mainly because it reminds me of a cool time from my youth with my sister.

The movie’s plot has our lead, Howard (Schwarzenegger), shown as a workaholic mattress salesman. Howard is married to Liz (Rita Wilson), and they have a son who is obsessed with the TV character superhero Turbo-Man. After missing his son’s karate class, Howard decides to fulfill his son’s wish and get him a Turbo-Man action figure. He tells his wife that he has already gotten it, believing that all he had to do was walk into a store and pick one up.

When he finally gets to walk into a store, he finds out that the action figure is the most sought-after thing in town and is sold out everywhere. It’s during this search that he meets another father, Myron (Sinbad), who is also trying to buy the action figure for his son. They soon become nemeses, following each other around and trying to get what could be the last Turbo-Man action figure in town.

The movie was inspired by the writer Chris Columbus’s attempt to get his hands on a Buzz Lightyear action figure. Buzz Lightyear was a character in the 1995 Disney/Pixar animated movie Toy Story. This is Schwarzenegger's fourth appearance as the lead in a comedy film, following Twins (1988), Kindergarten Cop (1990), and Junior (1994).

The movie wasn’t a box office hit, even though the studio invested well into the production, dishing out an eight-figure salary to Schwarzenegger, all adding up to its $75 million production budget. The movie made over $120 million. Although, over time, the movie has become one of those regulars you see on TV during the Christmas period.

Also in the movie is Rita Wilson, the wife of Tom Hanks, who plays Schwarzenegger’s wife in the movie. So, if you’re curious to see what she looks like, well, this movie will help.

Your children will enjoy this movie, and you’ll probably understand the feeling if you've ever been at a mall for last-minute Christmas shopping. This movie is a nostalgia quest, not something to watch if you're in the mood for a nice, family-fun movie.