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| Jingle All The Way - 1996 |
Our next film is 1996's "Jingle All The Way", where we find a busy father who has forgotten to pick up a very important and rare Christmas present for his son. The antics he gets into on Christmas Eve while he searches for the elusive gift bring him closer to his family than ever before.
The film's cast includes Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson, Robert Conrad, Martin Mull, Jake Lloyd, Jim Belushi, Harvey Korman, Chris Parnell, and Marcus Toji.
Children's TV action hero Turboman is all the rage this year. His show is supremely popular with kids. And he's looked up to by children of all ages, especially young Jamie Langston.
In fact, the Turboman action figure/doll is the hottest toy of the year and is sold out across the United States as the #1 Christmas toy of the year. After missing out on Jamie's karate class, Jamie's father Howard agrees to make it up to Jamie by getting him a Turboman of his very own.
Howard's wife Liz assumes that he got the Turboman weeks ago. Typical for Howard, he forgot. And now he's got to rush to find a toy that his wife deems will be impossible to find.
On Christmas Eve, Howard leaves to go and get the Turboman doll he's got at his "office". He promises Jamie that he will be back in time to take him to a special Christmas parade, where Turboman will be making a special appearance.
Howard finds out just how difficult finding this Turboman will be. He teams up with a disgruntled postal worker named Myron, who is also searching for the action figure for his own son. The crowd presses against the doors in hopes of finding the elusive doll.
Howard and Myron are laughed at by the toy story employees, who find it humorous that the two waited so long to acquire the toy.
Howard must now search all over town, and his escapades get him into some real scrapes. He runs over a police motorcycle, gets into a pushing and shoving match at a mall, fights a large group of Santas who run an illegal toy operation, and inadvertently gives a police man a bomb (courtesy of Myron, who says, "I work for the post office, so you know I'm not stable!").
As a last resort, Howard tries to steal the Turboman that his neighbor intends on giving his own son. Having second thoughts, Howard decides to return the package to its place under the Christmas tree. However, a temperamental reindeer and a fire that Howard ignites in the neighbor's living room call attention to his breaking and entering.
Howard remembers his promise to Jamie about going with him to the Christmas parade. While he runs from the police man whom he gave the bomb too, Howard is recruited to actually play Turboman in the parade. He excitedly waves to the crowds who are wildly cheering.
He even makes a special connection with Jamie, who is also watching from the crowd and who also does not yet recognize his father.
Everything works out in the end. Jamie is thrilled that his dad turned out to be Turboman, and Liz is suitably impressed as well. "What do I need a doll for? I got the real Turboman at home!" exclaims Jamie as the family embraces.
One of the most hilarious parts of the film is the attempted seduction of Liz by her neighbor Ted. While she doesn't respond to his flirting throughout the film, Ted amps it up right before the parade. Just before things get too tense, Liz smacks Ted in the head with a thermos full of eggnog.
Cast rundown:
Arnold Schwarzenegger...........................Howard Langston
Sinbad..................................................Myron Larabee
Phil Hartman..........................................Ted Maltin
Rita Wilson............................................Liz Langston
Robert Conrad.......................................Officer Hummell
Martin Mull............................................D.J.
Jake Lloyd.............................................Jamie Langston
Jim Belushi............................................Mall Santa
Harvey Korman......................................President
Chris Parnell...........................................Toy Store Sales Clerk
Marcus Toji............................................Kid With Remote Control
And that's all for Jingle All The Way. During the film, Sinbad improvised the majority of his lines. Arnold Schwarzenegger improvised most of his responses to Sinbad's dialogue. Before Arnold was contracted to play Howard Langston, Tim Allen was among those considered for the role.
A post-credits scene shows the Langston family gathered around the Christmas tree after the events of the day. Liz tells Howard she's been thinking about all that he went through in order to get Jamie a present and it's got her wondering what he got for her. Howard looks up in a panic!
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