What parents need to know
Violence & scariness
Sexy stuff
Language
Consumerism
Drinking, drugs, & smoking
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this film offers nothing in the way of genuine family fun. Young kids may enjoy the action, car chases, and explosions, but they aren't worth it for the miserable messages about consumerism and buying your child's love.
User reviews
Parents say
Kids say
What's the story?
Harold Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a workaholic dad who doesn't spend enough time with his son, Jamie. In order to win back Jamie's love, Harold offers to buy him anything he wants for Christmas. Jamie knows what he wants immediately. In an excited voice, he recites the TV ad for the new TurboMan toy. Just days before Christmas, Harold sets out to find the toy, but it's sold out everywhere. He roams from store to store, chases ping pong balls for toy lotteries, visits a creepy shop of stolen and broken gifts, and rushes to a radio station to try to win a TurboMan contest. Along the way, he becomes rivals with a mail carrier dad, Myron (Sinbad), who quite literally goes postal. In an even ickier subplot, a womanizing next door neighbor (Phil Hartman) uses his good-dad persona to try to seduce Harold's wife, Liz (Rita Wilson).
Is it any good?
QUALITY
If you don't have to watch Jingle All the Way, don't. It's everything that's wrong with the holiday season: It's competitive, it's stressful, it's desperate, and it's all about consumerism. In short, there's no one in this movie for kids to look up to. And what that means is that, despite being about getting toys, this is a movie for adults who've been in Harold's position and who desperately want to be their sons' heroes. But it's not fun to watch for anyone.
Explore, discuss, enjoy
Families can talk about the movie's message. Is Christmas really all about getting THE toy? How do parents make time for their kids and show their love without gifts? What are your favorite things to do, especially during the holidays, that don't require spending money?
Movie details
| Theatrical release date: | November 21, 1996 |
| DVD release date: | October 12, 2004 |
| Cast: | Arnold Schwarzenegger, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson |
| Director: | Brian Levant |
| Studio: | Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment |
| Genre: | Comedy |
| Topics: | Holidays |
| Run time: | 85 minutes |
| MPAA rating: | PG |
| MPAA explanation: | action violence, mild language and some thematic elements |
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QUALITY
Schwarzenegger cranks up the goofiness in this rotten turkey
Delightfully terrible holiday movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a father who is desperatley trying to get a toy for his child. Tons of dysfunctional moments filled with goofy humor that is incredibly weak. The movie feels like one big advert.
What other families should know
Too much consumerism
QUALITY
Good, Funny Movie
"Put that cookie down, Nao."
This movie is a very funny Arnold Schwarzenegger flick, in which his character (Howard Langston) is in hunt to find a turbo man action figure for his son. There are various bad words such as H*LL, D**N, and A*S. In one scene Arnold is mistaken for a pervert. Other then these few parts, this movie is bery good.
What other families should know
Too much swearing
QUALITY
The Common Sense Review Made Me Sick!!!
I read the CS review...
I gasped...
I checked the movie title...
I gasped...
I had no idea that only yesterday I had exposed my self to "commercialism", and "violence"...
This is without doubt THE BEST X-mas movie I have ever seen...
No...
I do not have the mentality of "young children"...
This movie was just an all-around feel GOOD, heart WARMING, HILARIOUS movie!
