JINGLE ALL THE WAY
US, 1996, 89 minutes, Colour.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson, Robert Conrad, Martin Mull, Jake Lloyd, Jim Belushi, Lorraine Newman, Harvey Korman.
Directed by Brian Levant.
According to all theory, Jingle All the Way, should be a children's holiday movie - and it is, but it is also a film for parents. The plot has its funny moments, with busy dad, Arnold Schwarzenegger being a good sport in another comedy role after Twins and Junior as well as Kindergarten Cop, failing to buy his son the latest hero toy.
So, Arnold and other parents, including a comic turn by Sinbad as Arnold’s nemesis, indulge in battling behaviour to get the last toy, behaviour that parents would be horrified to see in their children. It's supposed to be a satire on the commercialisation of Christmas but, rather, it seems to reinforce it. However, by a series of chances, Arnold is involved in the Christmas parade and becomes, literally, Turbo Man, to the delight of his son Phil Hartman has a role as a sleazy neighbour who charms all the women. Rita Wilson plays the mother of the young boy. Men behaving badly.
Larry, the Cable Guy, starred in the raucous Jingle all the Way 2.
1. A Christmas story, a Christmas rush story, the spirit of Christmas, Santa Claus, gifts? Popular gifts, the pressure on parents? The hold the children have over parents?
2. The title, the song, as an image of the feuding parents trying to buy toys?
3. The setting in Minnesota, Minneapolis- St Paul, busy offices and Christmas parties, homes, children and their watching TV and super heroes, neighbours, the folksiness of neighbours helping neighbours? The musical score?
4. Howard, his situation at the office, all the clients, saying they were his number one clients, even saying this to his wife? The son, his karate class and belt? The wife phoning, the secretary urging? The traffic jam? His being late, the reaction of his son, of his wife? His promise to do something better? His son wanting Turbo Man doll, his having promised to get it but forgotten?
5. The background of Turbo Man, the television programs, the doll, the heroism, the villains, the sayings, fulfilling promises, defeating the enemy? The president and his wife? This all being taken up in the parade, Howard as Turbo Man, Myron as the villain, the float, the action, the boy involved, the villain taking the boy to the Christmas tree on the roof, Howard and finding that Turbo Man could fly, the mayhem in the procession, the rescue, getting the doll – and the son willing to give the doll away to Myron for his son?
6. The scenes in the shop, the crowds, the savage parents, trampling the manager as the doors opened, shelves tumbling, chases, fights, Howard chasing the boy with the ball, the mothers bashing him? Meeting Myron, their discussions, Myron as the postman, stories about his father and his disappointment? Confiding in Howard, yet their continued rivalry, the chases, the fights?
7. The episode with the Santa and the elves, the factory, the con, the fight, the police, Howard pretending that he was police?
8. The humorous interludes with the stern policeman, on the highway as Howard cheated to avoid the traffic, knocking down his bike, the coffee all over him, at the false factory, the end…?
9. Howard, desperate, escaping the policeman, finding himself in the preparation for the parade, the spiel by the manager, the suit, on the float, Myron, the escapades?
10. Happy ending, the son doing the nice thing with the gift, proud of his father – and the postscript with his wife wondering what Howard, after all that trouble, had as a gift for her!
