Jingle All the Way

Howard Langston, a salesman for a mattress company, is constantly kept busy at his job, disappointing his son. After he misses his son's karate exposition, Howard vows to make it up to him by buying an action figure of his son's favorite television hero for Christmas. Unfortunately for Howard, it is Christmas Eve, and every store is sold out of Turbo Man. Now, Howard must travel all over town and compete with everybody else to find a Turbo Man action figure.

Critics largely dismissed the film as a tonal mess that squanders a genuinely relevant premise about holiday consumerism — starting as would-be satire before collapsing into slapstick absurdity in its final act. The central performance divided reviewers sharply, and nearly everyone agreed the supporting cast was underused, though audiences were considerably more forgiving than critics.