I'll Be Home For Christmas (1998) Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Jessica Biel, Adam Lavorgna, Gary Cole, Eve Gordon, Lauren Maltby, Andrew Lauer, Sean O'Bryan, Lesley Boone. Screenplay by Harris Goldberg and Tom Nursall, from a story by Michael Allin. Directed by Arlene Sanford. Rated PG, 2.5 stars (out of five stars)
Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly www.nuvo-online.com Archive reviews at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Edward+Johnson-ott To receive reviews by e-mail at no charge, send subscription requests to pbbp24a@prodigy.com
Like "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," "I'll Be Home For Christmas" is a cross-country road story about the travails of trying to return home for the holidays. Jonathan Taylor Thomas stars in this lightweight Disney comedy that, while far from memorable, is at least pleasant.
With holiday films of this sort, no one expects any surprises. Thomas plays a self-absorbed young man trying to go home for all the wrong reasons, and there is absolutely no doubt that he will make it home and will learn valuable life lessons along the way. It's a standard film structure and the entertainment factor depends on how well the filmmakers and cast connect the dots. In this case, the results are, well, pleasant.
Jake (Thomas) is a smooth talking con artist at a Los Angeles college. Uncomfortable over his father remarrying a mere 10 months after his mother's death, the kid has avoided visiting the homestead. Anxious to see his son, Dad (Gary Cole) offers a bribe: if Jake makes it to the family's home in New York state by 6 p.m. Christmas eve, he gets a vintage Porsche.
Things go awry, of course. A group of football players, angered over one of Jake's botched scams, dumps him in the middle of the desert, dressed in a Santa suit with the beard and hat glued to his head. To make matters worse, his girlfriend Allie (Jessica Biel) is also on the road east, traveling with Eddie (Adam Lavorgna), Jake's loutish arch enemy.
Naturally, as Jake strains to make it home before the deadline, two things have to happen: he must encounter a variety of colorful eccentrics and repeatedly almost catch up with his girlfriend. To their credit, the filmmakers show some imagination while working the formula. Jake meets a clueless thief (Andrew Lauer, the guy on skates from "Caroline in the City") and a heartsick cop (Sean O'Bryan), leading up to a cute scene that is both sentimental and funny.
A meeting between Jake, Allie and Eddie in a Midwest Bavarian village is also cleverly staged, although it contains a "Three's Company" style scene that falls flat on its face. Jake finds his girlfriend's motel room which, out of sheer necessity, she shared with Eddie. While Jake and Allie are talking, Eddie comes out of the bathroom wearing only a towel. Allie quickly makes it clear that she is not romantically or sexually involved with the guy and Eddie makes a smart-aleck remark. What's Jake's response? He inexplicably jerks Eddie's towel off, leaving the athletically-built young man standing nude in front of his girlfriend. The mildly-embarrassed Eddie grabs something to cover his genitals, Allie shows no reaction whatsoever, and I scratched my head, wondering why a scene as illogical, poorly-staged and unfunny as this one was left in the film.
That peculiar episode aside, "I'll Be Home For Christmas" works more often than not. The performances range from pretty good (Biel, O'Bryan and Lauer), to fair (Lavorgna), to cardboard (everyone in Jake's family). As for Jonathan Taylor Thomas, the "Home Improvement" graduate really needs to work on his facial expressions. Regardless of the emotional state of his character, there's always a vague hint of a smirk on Thomas' face, rendering his scenes of redemption less than convincing.
As far as holiday movies go, "I'll Be Home For Christmas" ranks right in the middle of the pack. It's mixture of smiles and sentiment is good enough for the film to qualify as a mildly pleasant diversion, but lacks that special magic necessary for it to rise above average. If you're a Jonathan Taylor Thomas fan, prepare for a veritable Thomas-fest. If not, rent "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" and see how the big boys work the holiday formula.
© 1998 Ed Johnson-Ott
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