JINGLE ALL THE WAY
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1996 Scott Renshaw
(20th Century Fox) Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson, James Belushi, Jake Lloyd. Screenplay: Randy Kornfield and Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont. Producers: Chris Columbus, Mark Radcliffe, Michael Barnathan. Director: Brian Levant. MPAA Rating: PG (profanity, cartoon violence) Running Time: 89 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
JINGLE ALL THE WAY is the first film from Chris Columbus' 1492 production company which was not directed by Columbus himself, and I found myself curious as to whether it would resemble the producing efforts of his mentors Steven Spielberg and John Hughes -- more specifically, would it look like a clone of Columbus' own films? Just as an experiment, I predicted to myself that JINGLE ALL THE WAY would involve an irresponsible/inconsiderate adult who, after plenty of broadly comic trials and tribulations, learns What's Really Important. That particular combination of slapstick and sentimentality had served Columbus well in two HOME ALONE films, MRS. DOUBTFIRE and NINE MONTHS (making him the third highest grossing director in history behind Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis), and there was no reason to suspect he wouldn't go to the well again.
Well, son of a gun, guess what. JINGLE ALL THE WAY finds Arnold Schwarzenegger playing Howard Langston, an irresponsible/inconsiderate harried businessman who is forever disappointing his young son Jamie (Jake Lloyd) by missing all the important events in his life. Determined to make it up to Jamie, Howard promises him that he will get the Christmas present he wants the most: the action figure of Turbo Man, a wildly popular television action series character who has become a wildly popular toy. Unfortunately, Howard waits until Christmas Eve to make his purchase, forcing him to go on a desperate search across Minneapolis to find the scarce toy, and to battle with another equally desperate father, mail carrier Myron Larabee (Sinbad), for one of the few Turbo Man figures remaining in the city.
And, of course, Howard walks away from his experiences having learned What's Really Important. I suspect Columbus may be fond of such warm-n-fuzzy denouements because he wants to leave his audience with the impression that it has watched something more meaningful than a live-action cartoon. The fact is that JINGLE ALL THE WAY is in many ways a better cartoon than SPACE JAM, directed by Brian Levant (THE FLINTSTONES) with an emphasis on absurd, elaborate sequences of physical comedy which at least have a certain momentum. Yes, some of them run on past the point of diminishing returns, like a seemingly endless pursuit of a bouncing ball, but other moments are keepers. The "Turbo Man" TV program is a neat little jab at "Power Rangers"-type shows in all their over-marketed glory, and Schwarzenegger's encounter with an enraged reindeer works better than it sounds. Miraculously, there is also only one scene of a kick to the groin in all the mayhem.
It is when JINGLE ALL THE WAY turns message-y on us that it not only loses steam, but demonstrates its crucial bit of mis-casting. The guilty party is Schwarzenegger himself, who has failed to understand the kind of comedy in which he can be successful. In the past, he has gone for laughs playing against his image, his sheer physical presence -- see Arnie paired with Danny DeVito as a mild-mannered genius in TWINS, see Arnie struggle with toddlers in KINDERGARTEN COP, see Arnie pregnant in JUNIOR. In JINGLE ALL THE WAY, he is frequently put in the position of threatening people to get his way, and it is not nearly the visual gag it could have been when the massive Schwarzenegger is forced to play the part of Turbo Man in a parade. A Steve Martin, Michael Keaton or even Robin Williams might have made Howard's quest more interesting, and the character more sympathetic; with Big Arnold, JINGLE is simply frantic and a bit too mean-spirited.
Fortunately, Schwarzenegger has a pair of comic co-stars with more sense for the material. Sinbad plays a character with no consistent personality -- sometimes a harmless nut, sometimes the film's villain -- but he can still make lame material funny (witness FIRST KID). If JINGLE ALL THE WAY had to star Schwarzenegger, it is to Levant and Columbus' credit that they got someone both funny _and_ a physical match to be his adversary. Phil Hartman also has a fun part as the Langstons' next-door neighbor Ted, who is like "The Simpsons'" Ned Flanders with a hyper-active libido. It is Ted's job to hit on Howard's wife Liz (Rita Wilson), which, of course, helps Howard to realize What's Really Important. What's really important to remember about JINGLE ALL THE WAY is that its target audience is probably under 12 years old, and that 90% of the humor involves bodily injury, property damage, or some combination of the two. Columbus wasn't trying to discover any new worlds here. He's already discovered a formula which works.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 commercial jingles: 5.
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