My Movie Review on Jingle All the Way
Merry Christmas, my pals.
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, for the 4th installment of my "Christmas Craze", I'm gonna give you guys my review of "Jingle All the Way".
Here's what it's about:
Howard Langston is a workaholic father and husband who struggles to keep his promises. He wants to somehow make it up to his wife and son but can't figure out how, until he decides to get Jamie the Christmas present he always wanted: a TurboMan action figures.
However, Howard forgets to purchase the present until Christmas Eve, and quickly finds out that the TurboMan toys are virtually sold out and almost impossible to find. This results in a wild and frantic hunt to find a TurboMan because Howard desperately wants to show his son how much he loves him.
Along the way, he frequently encounters an eccentric mailman named Myron, who's also looking for a TurboMan doll to give to his son.
Will Howard find a TurboMan action figure for his son before the day is over? Or will he be a disgrace in the eyes of his family for life?
I'm aware of this film's rather negative reputation, so before I address the positives, I'd like to note the only negatives I found in this movie.
For starters, the character of Ted Martin was rather creepy. The late Phil Hartman definitely did a good job portraying his character, but Ted was too much of a creepizoid 2.0, even for my taste.
That, and there were some cuss words that shouldn't have been said in a PG-rated film.
Despite this, however, I actually found this to be one of the most underrated films in history! It's a movie that I grew up with, and even now, it's one that I really enjoy seeing in the Christmas season.
The direction by Brian Levant, and the story by Randy Kornfield, were all pretty fun. I can't help but take particular note of Chris Columbus's involvement as a co-producer and (uncreditedably) co-writer of this film as well, because to me...his fingerprints were all over this movie, and his involvement helped it skyrocket into an entertaining feature.
The comedy aspect of the movie was hilarious every step of the way. It's fluidly crafted and continuous throughout, and it delivered with such wit and energy that's strong enough to easily be rewarded with laughs.The relationship between Howard and Charlie, and the former's determination to keep his promises, were elements that I thought really helped give the film heart and warmth.
I'd like to mention the music that was composed by David Newman, because it really helped this movie stand tall. How often I've commended Newman for his work as a film composer is something I'm not sure of at the moment, but I say with complete honesty that this was one of the best he's done. He was able to help audiences get immediately hooked and really into the adventure with his music, and he incorporated genuine warmth for the heartwarming moments and brilliant timing for the comedic scenes.
The performances of the cast, the characters, and character development were all superbly spot-on too.
I know that many have complained about the performance of Arnold Schwarzenegger in this film, but in all honesty, I didn't find anything wrong with him. Schwarzenegger, to me, showcased incredible abilities for comedic acting, and it seems like the only reason he was criticized to begin with was because people were used to seeing him in violent-action films. The character of Howard is definitely not the brightest guy around, but he's still pretty lovable and intriguing to hang with.
Sinbad and his character of Myron the Mailman were what I believed to be among the movie's best parts. In every scene he was in, Sinbad stole the show with his comedic-chops and the amount of personality he was putting into his character, and it looked as if he added his own flair and improvised with little restraint. He just looked like he was having a lot of fun, and that was something I was happy to see.
In conclusion, "Jingle All the Way" is one of the most underrated and overlooked films I've ever seen. It's perfect for whole families to see, and it's fun to watch during the Christmas season.
So, I rate "Jingle All the Way" 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.
