Movie: Jingle All The Way stars Arnold as Howard Langston, a successful businessman that always tells his retail clients that they are his "#1 customer" when on the phone. A driven, type "A" personality, Howard spends long hours at the office so his beautiful wife Liz (Rita Wilson) can stay at home and his son Jamie (Jake "Anakin Skywalker" Lloyd) can have all the material possessions he asks for that he sees on the abundance of hours he spends in front of the television set. As is so often the case, Howard's growing business success comes at a very steep price: his wife and kid hardly ever see him, coming to think he lies about everything after numerous cancelled outings, school pageants, and other quality time matters that take back seat to work (much like Jim Carey in Liar Liar). Having grown up in a similar circumstance, I can tell you that it is far more common a situation than some of the touchy feely TV shows where the family is always comforting, always there when needed, and puts materialistic endeavors last. This year, the big toy of the season is the precious Turboman action figure (typically called a "doll" but I remember how sexual identity driven some of you are so I'm trying to cater, perhaps pander, a little to your needs).

The action figure is based on a live action TV show where a moralistic knucklehead spouts sayings, fights evil doers, and proves that good always wins out over evil. Jamie is so fixated on getting one of the toys for the holiday as much because all the other kids will have one and anyone that doesn't will be considered a doofus. This is a common sentiment that anyone who can think back to the Tickle Me Elmo, Cabbage Patch Dolls, or even the more recent PS3 craze can identify with; the story based on the Cabbage Patch craze of the 80's according to the director. So Howard's moral imperative is to get such a toy for his son, saving them both a lot of grief in the process. Unfortunately, Howard being the driven businessman that he is, kept putting off buying the toy and it is now the day before Christmas. Needless to say, he frantically attempts to find a store with one in stock, getting laughed at and mistreated by everyone he comes in contact with. He has told his wife that he already had one and as surprised as she is by the statement, part of her is skeptical given his past.

The movie then moves from one sight gag to the next as Howard tries to score the toy, even going to the largest shopping mall in the USA (which is conveniently located nearby). Of course the place is full of last minute shoppers and while most of them have no delusion about getting the top rated toy this day, they act like a mad pack of dogs in trying to obtain one when a store announces a new shipment. Howard's frustration grows into a rivalry of sorts with a postman, Myron Larabee (Sinbad), who is also seeking the toy for his son; showing that race is no boundary to the American Dream. As the movie progresses, each tries to sabotage the other and the true humor in the movie is less the over the top mugging by the leads (I'm a big fan of each of them; both having proven time and again that they can deliver the goods when better material is available) than those they interact with.

Arnold fits his role as the uptight father perfectly. The trouble is in how little he is given to do here yet he is in almost every scene. Sinbad seemed shackled by his role too, the groaners he spouted coming across more as adlibs than anything he would willingly come up with on his own. Each gets a handful of cute lines that could be quoted in advertising but as a whole, the movie suffers from the disjointed way it tackles the "Day in the life of a dumb dad" motif. Far better where the smaller roles by Phil Hartman as the neighbor on the prowl for Liz, James Belushi and Danny Woodburn as a store Santa Claus and elf that take advantage of the yuletide spirit by selling bootleg merchandise; putting Arnold on much more solid territory of familiarity but again, dropping the ball with the big lug. Also given a great little role was Chris Parnell from SNL as a store clerk pointing out the increasingly obvious to Howard, Martin Mull as the disc jockey threatened by the male leads, Robert Conrad as the overzealous police officer, or Yeardley Smith (Lisa Simpson's voice in The Simpson's though I recall her best as one of the leads in Herman's Head) as a frisky gal who Howard encounters. There were scores of others that made parts of the movie well worth a look too (it is not as bad as most critics seem to think so much as a series of failed opportunities that were passed by) but their roles were easily diluted by the leads here, the movie might have worked had several been given larger roles.

I'm not going to spoil the movie for you as it had all the cute aspects you would expect and Howard naturally saves the day in the end but the varied messages the movie sends are still chilling if you consider how accurate they are in breath and scope. Perhaps it was that cynicism and closeness to the truth that hit a nerve on so many people when this was panned by the media last decade because whatever flaws it may have had; I remember the rush to get a copy of the original DVD release when it went OOP. My rating is still a Rent It as the flaws outweigh the strengths but if seeing it before the holidays reminds us of what is important, truly important, I can see many of you rating it higher; this version adding a handful of extra minutes for the "Family Fun Edition", though I remind all of you that the "20 minutes of footage not seen in theaters" must include the limited extras while adding in some minimal clips that aired on the ABC version of the movie some years back. That the disc included both versions of the movie was a pleasant surprise, the extra scenes including parts like what came after the credits originally (where Liz asks Howard a very important question that could have resulted in a sequel), Howard buying a toy from Yardley for too much money, a longer warehouse scene, and perhaps a few other clips I missed.

Picture: Jingle All The Way was presented in an anamorphically enhanced 1.85:1 widescreen color as shot by veteran comedy director Brian Levant. His works have shown a pattern repeated here, take a formula, apply it without any major chances being taken, and then edit it as much as needed to get the result you want. The fleshtones were accurate and the amount of edge enhancement was minimal. I saw little aliasing and the biggest issue I had was that the focus seemed a little bit soft (a look at my original release copy proved to be substantially the same, perhaps tweaked a little by 20th Century Fox). It looked better but by such a little amount that your mileage will definitely vary. I believe the last version that came out was a few years ago (making this a re-re-release) but don't believe the advertised claims about how long the movie is; Amazon currently listing it at 122 minutes, as it was only a few minutes longer.

Sound: The audio tracks were also similar to the original release with the primary track being the 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround offering. The separation was good throughout the release and the use of the rear speakers and subwoofer nicely enhanced during the action sequences. The vocal and music tracks were cleaner too, some of the sound effects apparently juiced up to make a greater impact. It may not rival some of Arnold's action flicks before his stint in office, but this was a nice soundtrack to appreciate the movie with. There were also 2.0 tracks in Spanish and French, with subtitles provided in English and Spanish.

Extras: The original extras included a trailer and some text biographies so I knew there'd be more on the plate this time. Aside from the fact that there were the two versions of the movie included (the longer director's cut and the original theatrical release version), there were also a couple of silly games; Christmas Rush and Guess the Gift. Neither was very challenging but stick with them if you have any problems for a cute few minutes of fun. My favorite extra was the Behind the Scenes look at making the movie and the Turboman special provided. While still the kind of fluff one would expect from this type of release, it appeared to include new footage of the director describing what went on while making the movie. It might not replace an audio commentary with him, Arnold, Sinbad, and a few of the others joining in but it was still a cute production to add to the release. The Turboman special was weaker but also given with a nudge & wink so I took it less seriously.

Final Thoughts: Jingle All The Way enjoyed a substantial box office success and the airing on television seemed to prove that a lot of people want mindless fun but there were a number of gems to be unearthed in the movie as well. The technical aspects covered all the appropriate bases and the addition of some new extras and a bit of additional movie footage in the director's cut of the film were enough to make this worth a rental or maybe more if you don't mind stepping over all the clichés to get to them. In short, Jingle All The Way: Family Fun Edition was never meant to compete as heady, mind altering drama and as a light weight comedy, it showed that Arnold still had plenty of star power left in him when it was made. You could do worse than this and while it might not have the replay value needed to get a recommended rating from me, it should be considered mandatory viewing for all those who have families trying to beat the Jones' at Christmas time.