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Jingle All the Way

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Jingle All the Way
Directed byBrian Levant
Written byRandy Kornfield
Produced byChris Columbus
Michael Barnathan
Mark Radcliffe
StarringArnold Schwarzenegger
Sinbad
Phil Hartman
Rita Wilson
Robert Conrad
Jake Lloyd
Martin Mull
Jim Belushi
CinematographyVictor J. Kemper
Music byDavid Newman
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
November 22, 1996
Running time
89 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60,000,000
Box office$129,832,389 (worldwide)

Jingle All the Way is a 1996 family comedy film directed by Brian Levant and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad. The name is taken from a line in the Christmas song "Jingle Bells". This is the last comedy to date that Schwarzenegger starred in. Schwarzenegger received a salary of $15 million for his role in the film.[1]

Plot

Howard Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is often busy at his job, and has a hard time finding time for his wife, Liz (Rita Wilson) and his young son, Jamie (Jake Lloyd) - especially when compared to next door superdad divorcé, Ted Maltin (Phil Hartman). After breaking his word again by missing Jamie's karate grading (from blue to purple), Howard resolves to redeem himself and his marriage by fulfilling Jamie's ultimate Christmas wish, an action figure of Turbo-Man, a popular children TV superhero.

Unfortunately, as is the habit with him, Howard had promised to buy that figure earlier that year and then promptly forgotten about it. To make things even harder, Turbo-Man toys are the must-have gifts of the season, and stocks of Turbo-Man toys are quickly drying up all over the country. Desperate not to disappoint his family again, Howard embarks on an epic city-wide quest to find the toy everyone's looking for. Along the way, Howard encounters Myron Larabee (Sinbad), a postal worker dad with a rival ambition, and the two quickly become bitter competitors in their race for the action figure. The chase begins to arise the ire of a police officer whom Howard keeps running into; Howard desperately hooks up with a band of brand-spoofing crooks and ends up thrashing them; and ultimately, both Howard and Myron cross paths in a false-advertising radio station and end up accidentally blowing up an entire room with one of Myron's letter bombs to escape from the police. In addition, Ted attempts to hit on Liz, which she eventually turns down hard.

The search climaxes with both Howard and Myron coincidentally masquerading as live action stuntmen in a department store parade. As the "real" Turbo-Man, Howard uses the opportunity to present a coveted limited-edition Turbo-Man doll to his son in the crowd. But before he can recognize his dad, Jamie is chased around the parade by Myron, dressed as Turbo-Man's archnemesis, Dementor. Jamie is ultimately saved by Turbo-Man, who reveals himself as his father, while Myron is arrested, all the while ranting about how he will explain the situation to his son.

Touched by Myron's undying dedication to his own son, Jamie relinquishes the doll to him and confesses that his dad is the only superhero he needs. In the final scene (after the film's end credits have finished) Howard puts the star on his tree and shares a happy moment with his family - until Liz asks him what he got for her. This causes Howard to look at the camera with a look of horror on his face, as he realizes he forgot to get Liz a gift.

Production and Reception

The movie was set and filmed in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota.

The film received mostly negative reviews from critics. The film garnered an 18% "Rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with 32 negative reviews out of 39 counted.[2] Brian Levant was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director; however, Sinbad won the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor in a Family film.[3]

Opening in 2,401 theaters, Jingle All the Way made $12.1 million in its first weekend; it went on to gross just under $130 million worldwide, recouping its $60 million budget.[4]

The film also airs annually on Disney-owned assets, ABC and ABC Family. As an experiment in 2004, much like TNT and TBS had done with A Christmas Story, FX ran Jingle All The Way for 24 consecutive hours.

Cast

Soundtrack

TVT released a song album on November 26, 1996.

  1. Jingle Bells - The Brian Setzer Orchestra (2:18)
  2. So They Say It's Christmas - Lou Rawls and The Brian Setzer Orchestra (4:05)
  3. Sleigh Ride - Darlene Love and The Brian Setzer Orchestra (2:36)
  4. Run Rudolph Run - Chuck Berry (2:44)
  5. The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - Johnny Mathis (2:48)
  6. Merry Christmas Baby - Charles Brown (4:47)
  7. Back Door Santa - Clarence Carter (2:09)
  8. The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole (3:10)
  9. Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms (2:12)
  10. Father And Son - David Newman (3:00)
  11. Finale - David Newman (4:02)
  12. Deep In The Heart Of Xmas - Darlene Love and The Brian Setzer Orchestra (2:52)

Score

Intrada released a Special Collection limited edition of David Newman's score on November 3, 2008.

  1. Main Title (1:58)
  2. Traffic (1:48)
  3. Howard & Hummel (1:34)
  4. Turbo Man Commercial (:32)
  5. Howard & Jamie (3:07)
  6. Abusing The Help (2:08)
  7. Late Delivery (:47)
  8. Nutcracker Mall (2:09)
  9. Riot In The Workshop (5:27)
  10. Here’s To You Dad (2:53)
  11. Music Box Bomb (2:01)
  12. Bomb #2 (1:24)
  13. Breaking & Entering (2:57)
  14. Drinking With Reindeer (1:48)
  15. Howard In The Taxi (1:40)
  16. Show Time (1:33)
  17. Turbo Tom Marching Band #1 (2:05)
  18. Turbo Tom Marching Band #2 (2:10)
  19. Dementor Arrives (1:31)
  20. Howard Saves The Day (5:01)
  21. Rescue Jamie And Finale (Original Version) (4:01)
  22. Bonus Track: Turbo Tom Marching Band #1 (With Guitar) (2:05)
  23. Bonus Track: Rescue Jamie And Finale (Revised) (3:59)


References

  1. ^ Marin, Rick (May 9, 1993). "Film; Battle of the Action Heroes". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ "Jingle All the Way". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
  3. ^ "Awards for Jingle All the Way (1996)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  4. ^ "Jingle All the Way". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
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