ElMaruecan82
Brian Levant's "Jingle All the Way" is not a bad film, it just doesn't know what to do with its own comedic potential, one that mostly shines in the earliest parts before the plot runs out of ideas and then ventures into familiar territories, too familiar to make this a standout even as a Christmas family comedy. Maybe the story was good material for a TV movie or a short comedy but when you've got Arnold Schwarzenegger with you, a star who's proved his capability for generating laughs ever with box-office hits like "Twins", "Kindergarten Cop" or "Junior", and actors like the late Phil Hartman, Sinbad and the so underrated Jim Belushi, you can make something good out of it.And it starts good. If Arnold Schwarzenegger is unintentionally funny as a workaholic businessman, he manages to be merely convincing and the film flies over the 'absent father' overused trope without crashing into it, but it's a close call. The kid, played by future Anakin Skywalker Jake Lloyd, forgives his father who's been absent to his karate course because he knows he's going to redeem himself with the ultimate Christmas gift, the so-cherished superhero doll: Turbo Man. But Howard is kind of a "turbo man" himself, business-wise, he's a busy man, which in child's language equals to 'bad father'… as long as he doesn't show up with the doll, which he naturally forgot to buy, and at the eve of Christmas, he'd have more chances to find Sarah Connor. The set-up quite works and when Howard goes to the mall desperately looking for Turbo Man, he only meets the laughs and sarcasms of funny-looking vendors, the humor is not the most sophisticated but what the heck, these troll-faces making fun of the Terminator made me laugh and enthusiastically wait for similar gags. And there was another inventive moment with the sleazy Santa Klaus' counterfeit warehouse and the over-the-top fights, the film wasn't as fun as when it tackled holiday consumerism or when it made fun of the Christmas spirit, never in a cynical way (not that it couldn't). But then the writer forgot something as essential to the story as Turbo Man to the kid, he forgot a third act.Sure, ending the film with Howard being the real Turbo Man as to establish his status as the real hero instead of the fake, merchandised one was the kind of touches we could see coming, but it could have worked only if there was something that made fun of the superhero figure or if it ended with Howard being heroic like a real father, not like a superhero. Levant thinks he parodies a cliché, but in fact, he replicates it and makes his film a cliché. As soon as Howard gets in the Turbo Man costume, we know his antagonist played by Sinbad, will be the villain, and then we'll have an obligatory climactic action sequence with special effects on the same level than an episode of "Mighty Morphing Power Rangers". The effects were lame in the opening commercial because it was meant to, but it's an insult to Arnold's stature as an action movie star to push him in so lamentable effects. But that's not what bothered me the most, it was just the whole idea of the ending, what was it trying to prove? All through the film, Howard showed that he didn't really care for his son's doll, which seemed to mean that he didn't care for his son. We know it's not true, we know the value of a father shouldn't be measured by the time dedicated to his son or his gifts, if only because it's the very time spent in the office that buys the gift, which is contradictory. Never mind, what should have happened was the kid believing that his father is the best gift he had, which is what the ending tried to show, but in reality, the kid never knows that it's his Dad, until he tells him so, so when he doesn't care about the doll because he's got the real Turbo Man, he doesn't have his father in mind. Why not anyway? But then why does he suddenly wish that his father had come to the parade, why the guilt? If anything, Howard is the one to blame.The film doesn't exactly know how to connect the expected happy ending with the second act, and it's a pity, it could have used the subplot with the cop (Robert Conrad) instead of making it a silly running gag, it could have game more substance to the neighbor played by Phil Hartman and not making him a one-dimensional rival, there were many ways to improve the film, but somewhere it got lost in a project too ambitious for its own good. I think the reason is that Howard wasn't unlikable enough, like Jim Carrey in "Liar, Liar", his journey wasn't really interesting, I mean, all he had to do was buying a toy, this is a rather thin character's arc, not exciting, and he's the highlight of the film, which says a lot. Rita Wilson is the obligatory 90's nagging wife whose range of emotions consists on complimenting Howard or being impressed when he does something good, arguing when it's bad, and being worried in-between.In all fairness "Jingle All the Way" starts very well and features many funny scenes, but you can enjoy them on Youtube. Besides, the knowledge of the fate of Jake Lloyd, which is still nothing compared to the poor Hartman doesn't help either. I used to like the film, my little brother loved it, the problem is that even the good parts prevent the film from being a cult-failure, it isn't so bad it's good, it's just as popular as "Booster", and gets so corny near the end, it's the height of irony that the writer's name is Kornfield.
