Jingle All the Way

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Jingle All the Way
Directed by Brian Levant
Produced by Chris Columbus
Michael Barnathan
Mark Radcliffe
Written by Randy Kornfield
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger
Sinbad
Phil Hartman
Rita Wilson
James Belushi
Jake Lloyd
Music by Brian Setzer
David Newman
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) November 22, 1996
Running time 103 min.
Language English
Budget $60,000,000
IMDb profile

Jingle All the Way (1996) is a 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".

Contents

[edit] Plot

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The film opens with Jamie Langston (Jake Lloyd) watching an episode of Turbo Man, USA's favorite superhero, when his mother Liz (Rita Wilson) tells him to prepare for his karate grading. His father, Howard, (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has promised to attend, but hasn't finished work yet. Howard means well, but is often forced to break numerous promises to his family.

Howard works at a mattress firm, where he is reminded by his secretary about Jamie's karate show. Howard tries his best to make it on time, but finds himself in a massive traffic jam, and when he cheats by driving on the hard shoulder of the road, he is stopped by Officer Alexander Hummell (Robert Conrad). Hummell believes Howard is drunk, and deliberately stops him arriving on time by making him recite the alphabet backwards. Howard is given a speeding ticket and tries to get to the show, only to see that he was terribly late and everyone has gone.

Guilty, Howard drives home and sees that his neighbor Ted Maltin (Phil Hartman) has put some Christmas lights on his house, since Christmas is approaching. Ted then tells Howard that he has got the karate show on video for him, and Howard gratefully accepts. But Howard gets cold greetings from Liz and Jamie, who are both angry at him for missing the show. Howard tries to make it up to Jamie and shares a Father-Son moment with him in his room. Howard then asks Jamie for a chance to make it up by buying him a special Christmas present, and Jamie says that he would like to have the Turbo-Man action figure that was advertised earlier on. With no hesitation, Howard agrees, and Jamie forgives his father by hugging him hard.

Two weeks pass, and the night before Christmas Eve arrives. Being reminded by Liz, Howard remembers that he has forgotten to buy the Turbo-Man doll, despite having been reminded two weeks before by Liz. Howard lies and tells her that he did buy it, and Liz sighs with relief, stating that by now they'd be impossible to find. Howard panics.

The next day, Howard tells Liz (in secret) that he has to go to the office, because he left the doll there, but Jamie asks his father to come with them to the annual Wintertainment Parade, since Turbo-Man will be there this year. Howard then promises to attend with them. Outside, as Howard prepares to get into his car, he finds himself inches away from being attacked by a reindeer, Ted's surprise for his son, Johnny. After a small talk with Ted, Howard tells him that he is buying a Turbo-Man for Jamie, and Ted boasts that he got one months ago for Johnny, nestled safely under their tree. Howard leaves.

In town, Howard finds a long queue at the toy store. He begs the man with the keys to let them in, since the store will open in two minutes. As the others shove Howard backwards, a mailman tells them to stop and leave Howard alone. The mailman then introduces himself to Howard as Myron Larabee (Sinbad), another father looking for a "Turbo-Man" doll for his son, and slowly starts to reveal his anger for his job, since he has to deliver all these letters all over the place. As Myron rants endlessly, the store opens, and Howard pushes his way to the Turbo-Man doll shelves, only to find them empty. Howard and Myron then learn from two porters that the last one was sold only a few minutes ago to a lady in a fur coat. Unfortunately, Myron betrays Howard and pushes him aside, but Howard controls a boy's remote-control car and uses it to make Myron fall over and hurt himself. Howard mocks Myron and finds the fur coat lady driving off with the Turbo-Man doll. Fuming, Howard starts a quest for the Turbo-Man doll. As the hours go by, Howard goes from toy shop to toy shop, finding negative results wherever he goes. At one point, he lets his anger out and destroys a cardboard Turbo-Man.

Meanwhile, back home, Ted and Johnny are at Howard's house. As Johnny and Jamie fight over who will be Turbo-Man and Dementor (Turbo-Man's nemesis), Ted tries to woo Liz by persuading her to go for a shower while he finishes baking the Christmas cookies. Then, Howard calls home and speaks to Ted, who is busy enjoying the cookies. Howard leaves a message with Ted, saying that he may be a few minutes late, but that Liz shouldn't worry. Continuing his quest, Howard, to his shock, finds himself with Myron once again. Myron playfully apologizes for what happened in the toy store, and even compliments about Howard's similar actions. Myron then tries to persuade Howard for the two of them to form an allegiance and search together, but Howard declines. As Myron scolds Howard for racism, they hear that there has been a Turbo-Man delivery at Toyworld. They both try to go to the toy store, but as Howard backs his car, he knocks over a police bike that was parked too close to him. Howard tries to lift it back up, but one of the mirrors falls off, and the bike's owner emerges from a coffee shop. Hummell then demands Howard's license and registration as Myron drives off, laughing.

Howard eventually makes it to Toyworld at the Mall of America, where he and many other childish parents enter a draw to try and win a Turbo-Man doll. Unfortunately, due to their childish behavior while trying to get the entry balls, the clerks throw the balls up, and the parents all pile on one another to try and get some balls. But when Howard gets one, Myron sprays his eyes with aftershave, blinding him and taking his ball. As Myron dances in front of Howard, who is under a pile of people, Howard tells the others that Myron has two entry balls, and Myron is attacked. Howard then gives chase to the ball that Myron dropped, leaving Myron buried under angry parents. Eventually, the ball falls into the pushchair of a spoiled little girl, who refuses to give it back to Howard, forcing him to follow her inside a child's playhouse. Howard manages to catch the little girl and demands the return of "his son's ball", but the girl's mother starts hitting Howard with her handbag, believing him to be a pervert. The other mothers then start attacking Howard, screaming at him until Howard shouts otherwise.

Howard is then approached by a Santa Claus (James Belushi) and his elf Tony, who claim to have an illegal Turbo-Man doll and are willing to sell it to Howard if he is desperate. Howard accepts, and he, Santa and Tony leave for a warehouse, where they meet an army of Santa Clauses working all over the place. Santa and Tony then sell the wrapped doll to Howard for $300, but Howard unwraps it and tests it, and it turns out to be a foreign Turbo-Man doll. Worse, Howard opens it, and sees that it is broken. Howard demands his money back, but they refuse, causing him to crack and call them sleazy con men in red-suits. Santa then picks a fight with Howard, but Howard punches him in the face with his own fake beard. Several Santas then attempt to fight Howard, but he fights them all off until he is confronted by a giant Santa. The Giant Santa then proves to be too much for Howard, who eventually distracts him long enough to knock him out with a punch to the face. Unfortunately, Tony stuns Howard in the backside, and all the Santas attempt to silence him by piling in him, but Howard is saved in the nick of time thanks to the timely intervention of the police. Thinking fast, Howard picks up a stolen police profile and uses it to address himself to the police as Detective Howard Lang, undercover. Howard then orders the Santas to be locked up before departing the scene.

Back home, Ted has organized a small party in the neighborhood, inviting many adults to have some hot chocolate and children to have a look at the reindeer. Jamie compliments Ted's actions, claiming that Ted only became like this after a divorce. Johnny then jokes that Jamie's parents should divorce so that Howard becomes like Ted, but it hurts Jamie, and he sadly goes back into his house.

Howard runs out of petrol on a bridge, and is then forced to push his car all the way to Mickey's Dining Car, where he tries to call Liz, but Jamie answers the phone, relieved to hear from him. Unfortunately, Jamie pesters Howard about coming home for the parade, and Howard loses his temper when Jamie mentions Turbo-Man. Jamie loses his own temper and tells Howard that he knows nothing about the concept of promise-keeping. Jamie then slams the phone down, and Howard realizes that he has made a big mistake. Guilty, Howard orders a hot drink in the bar, and is reunited once again with his old enemy, Myron, who hasn't had any luck in finding a doll either. Howard and Myron then share a warm moment, in which Howard reveals his happy times with Jamie to Myron, and Myron tells Howard about a similar Christmas accident. As a boy, Myron had wanted a Johnny-7OMA Toy Gun for Christmas, but his father had turned him down, despite having promised him it. Later, his neighbor, Scott Sherman, now the CEO of Sherman Industries, was bought the same toy as a boy. This had caused Myron to develop a bitter attitude toward his father. Howard then has a crazy vision of Jamie in Myron's clothes worrying that if he doesn't get a Turbo-Man doll, what happened between Myron and his father may happen between he and Jamie.

Then, Howard and Myron's friendship ends again when they hear the radio advertise the opportunity to win a Turbo-Man doll. Howard tries to call the radio station on the bar's pay phone, but Myron rips the wire out, stopping him. As Howard attacks Myron, the bartender tells them that the radio station is two blocks away, and they run for the station as fast as they can. Being overweight and carrying a huge bag of mail, Myron is overtaken by Howard, and Howard makes it first. Unfortunately, as he bangs on the window of the office, the DJ (Martin Mull) mistakes Howard for a madman and calls the police just as Howard kicks the door down. Howard then tells the DJ the answer to Santa's reindeer as Myron arrives, sporting a parcel which he claims to be a letter bomb. After a loud argument, Myron catches the DJ sniggering at him, and unleashes his anger by tossing the bomb. But the bomb turns out to be a harmless music box, and the angered Howard prepares to attack Myron when the DJ explains to them that the prize of the competition is a mere Turbo-Man gift certificate, causing Howard and Myron to attack him. But they are stopped by the arrival of the police. Howard and Myron make a run for it, but Myron is surrounded by the police as Howard runs for another exit, where he is stopped by none other than Hummell. Hummell takes Howard to the main hall where Myron gets out another parcel which he claims to be a letter bomb. Myron then uses the bomb to force Hummell to release Howard and cheats his way into the lift to escape. But Hummell picks up the parcel and proceeds to unwrap it.

As Howard and Myron run their separate ways, they hear a loud bang from the radio station, proving that the second parcel was indeed a letter bomb. Once again rid of Myron, Howard buys a small tanker of petrol for his car, only to see that a group of thieves had ransacked the car, taking all the chairs and stuff and leaving "Merry XMas" sprayed on the windshield. Howard then calls the workers to take him home and then take the car to the works.

To his shock, Howard spies through his window and catches Ted putting the star up on his tree. To get back at Ted, Howard sneaks into Ted's house and attempts to steal Johnny's Turbo-Man doll, but comes to his senses after realizing that he is stealing from a kid. Unfortunately, Ted's stupid reindeer, who had taken a pointless disliking to Howard, chases Howard back into Ted's house and causes a fire. Howard is forced to kick the flaming head of the Balthazar statue through Ted's window, which Ted and Liz see. Howard is then confronted by Ted and Liz, who believe that Howard is stealing from Ted. Angry and frustrated, Liz asks Ted to drive her and Jamie to the parade. Left alone again, Howard is again confronted by the reindeer, who he had locked in the living room. In no mood to be bullied anymore ("You picked the wrong day."), Howard punches the reindeer in the face and sends it to the floor ("You started it.")

As Ted, Liz, Jamie and Johnny depart for the parade, Howard and the now-behaving reindeer drink outside Howard's house. Setting his eyes on an old drawing from Jamie of himself, Liz and Jamie, Howard claims to have had enough of breaking his promises, and calls a taxi to take him to the parade.

Meanwhile, at the parade, Jamie and Johnny go to stand in the crowd while Ted and Liz park the car. But Ted attempts to get Liz drunk so that he can have an affair with her, but Liz smacks Ted in the face with the eggnog thermos and leaves him alone, his glasses askew and all covered in eggnog. Unfortunately, Howard arrives and catches Ted trying to woo Liz, and accidentally (and coincidentally) runs into Officer Hummell and hits him over, making him drop the hot coffee and get drenched in it. Wanting revenge on Howard for the letter bomb, Hummell chases Howard through the parade. He finally loses Howard, who runs to hide inside a warehouse. However, the men in the warehouse mistake Howard for the actor playing Turbo-Man, and dress him in the superhero outfit. As Turbo-Man, Howard ends up with Booster, Turbo-Man's sidekick. Later, a Turbo-Man doll is put onto the stand, and Howard believes it is for him, cheering loudly. But he is told that he has to give the doll to a child in the audience, and setting his eyes on Jamie, Howard picks his son. Handing the doll to Jamie, Howard is just about to reveal his true identity to his son when they are interrupted by the arrival of Turbo-Man's arch-enemy, Dementor.

To coincide with Howard's state, the man in the Dementor suit turns out to be Myron, who has come to take the doll from Howard and Jamie. Jamie tries to flee, but Myron catches him, enraging Howard. Howard and Myron then fight, and Howard uses the Turbo-Discs to knock Myron out. But Howard is then attacked by the Demon Team, Dementor's pint-sized henchmen, while Jamie runs away, followed by Myron. Jamie even goes as far as to climb a building, and Myron doesn't give up there. Howard finally defeats the Demon Team, and uses his Jetpack to try and fly to Jamie's rescue, just as Jamie and Myron climb a decor tree and cause it to fall, leaving both of them hanging dangerously above a long fall. Failing to catch Jamie with the Jetpack, Howard uses his Turbo-Rang to hit Myron off the tree, just after Myron manages to grab the doll from Jamie's backpack. Myron falls and lands on a parade float, where the police arrest him.

Jamie then loses his grip and falls off the tree, but Howard uses the Jetpack and catches Jamie in time. Howard and Jamie then land in front of Liz, but after all the fun, Jamie's face saddens and he says that he wished Howard was there, but he didn't come because of their fight on the phone. Howard then tells Jamie, "Your father is not mad at you", and reveals himself to his family by removing the Turbo-Man helmet. As Howard and Liz cuddle, Hummell emerges from the crowd and presents Jamie with the Turbo-Man doll. He even compliments Howard's actions, and almost faints when he sees Howard in the Turbo-Man suit. Howard then starts apologizing for everything that happened earlier (the bike, the letter bomb, etc.) as Myron is handcuffed and taken away. But making a decision, Jamie gives the doll to Myron as a Christmas present. Myron gratefully accepts the doll, and apologizes to Jamie about their frolic on the roof. Jamie then says that he no longer needs the doll, now that Howard is the real thing. Howard is then lifted on the shoulders of another man and carried off into the cheering crowd, as Jamie, Myron, Liz and Hummell smile admiringly at Howard. Jamie cheers "That's my Dad! That's my Dad!"

In the final scene, Howard happily opens presents with Jamie...

...until he realizes that he forgot to get Liz a gift!

Tagline: Two Dads, One Toy, No Prisoners.

[edit] Trivia

This article contains a trivia section.
Content in this section should be integrated into other appropriate areas of the article or removed, and the trivia section removed.
  • Comedian Jay Leno has been known to joke about this movie several times on his show, "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". When California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's four ballot measures were rejected by California voters in November 2005, Leno remarked that "...This has to be the worst day Arnold's had since that movie 'Jingle All the Way' came out".
  • The film has become a staple for parodies of Arnold Schwarzenegger, especially on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Virtually each time Conan has a fake interview with "Arnold" (a cardboard cutout with Arnold's voice impersonated), the Arnold character will yell (apropos of nothing) for the audience to see/buy/watch his "great Holiday classic" Jingle all the Way. O'Brien has said that the reason behind this continuing parody was Arnold's feverence in promoting the movie when it was first released; Arnold was so enthusiastic about the cookie-cutter holiday picture that O'Brien and his writers found it hilarious.
  • A quick clip of the film can be seen in the film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. As Borat changes the channel on his hotel television, he switches from COPS, to Married... with Children, then Jingle All the Way, and finally Baywatch. In the film, Borat appears to be disgusted with Jingle All the Way as he watches the scene where Jamie hugs Howard.
  • The final scene seen on the VHS, after the credits, which shows Belushi singing "The Little Boy Santa Claus Forgot" was cut from the DVD.
  • The scene in which Arnold punches the reindeer is a reference to a similar scene in Conan the Barbarian.
  • The movie was filmed and is set in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota.
  • When Howard leaves to get a Turbo Man doll for Jamie, Ted advises him he should put chains on his tires, but tire chains are illegal in Minnesota.
  • In the parade scene, Sonic the Hedgehog can be seen as one of the characters in the parade.

[edit] Cast

[edit] External links

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