Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Howard Langston, a heckled father of one who works hard and tries to be there for his young son and loving wife (played by Rita Wilson). As so often happens when someone tries to be everything for everyone he slips up, occasionally slips up badly. This year, as his wife goes over the to-do list she gave him he realizes that he forgot to get a Turbo Man doll for his son, and Turbo Man is THE hot toy of the season, any boy that doesn't get one of these
will be the laughingstock of the elementary school after Christmas break. No problem, he's still got another day to shop before Christmas so he can just go out and get one in the morning, right?
Wrong. Howard runs headlong into crowds of other late shoppers who are willing to do anything to get their hands on the coveted toy; anything up to and including trampling other shoppers, wrecking the stores, brawling in the aisles, and doing anything else possible to get what they want. Howard teams up with a down-on-his-luck mailman (Sinbad) in the hopes that two heads will be better than one on this problem, but the two end up stabbing each other in the back at every turn because of course each wants their son to get the toy.
In an action-filled caper reminiscent of the Tickle Me Elmo
debacle comes a tale of what Christmas is all about...at least in today's commercialized world. Personally I found this movie to be a little bit annoying after the first viewing, and I have seen it several times, but I've babysat kids from ages 5-9 that absolutely love it. It's wacky, there's all sorts of uproar about a toy, and...a reindeer. Yep, that's all I can think of for why they'd like it.
As for acting...I've never really been a Schwarzenegger fan, there are some movies he's in that I like (the Terminator movies, Total Recall) but for the most part he just doesn't convince me, and you notice in these family movies none of the other family members have even a trace of the same accent? Yeah I know, it's a small thing, but still. I suppose for this movie he served well, it probably wouldn't be very convincing if you had Danny DeVito plowing his way through hundreds of people like a freight train, besides a part at the end that his size also serves well for.
The pacing is pretty good...it starts rolling fast and keeps rolling right up until the end. Most of it is at least grounded in real life, everything except the parade scene, so heckled parents can relate while the kids delight in the non-stop holiday action. James Belushi also makes an appearance as a shady mall santa, but all in all the laughs are few and far between...and sometimes you have to remind yourself to chuckle every once in a while for the benefit of the younger viewers.
This probably isn't the kind of movie that'll give you all sorts of warm fuzzy holiday feelings though after a day of trying to shop at some of the larger retailers I can definitely relate to the melodramatic killer crowds in this film. Overall, the kids love this film, I don't really but I guess whatever keeps them entertained for however short a time. In my opinion the film was pretty much mediocre all around, but you can definitely do worse in a holiday kid's movie.