Where to watch I’ll Be Home for Christmas
1 Star
1990s television heartthrob, Jonathan Taylor Thomas attempts to make the leap to big-screen romantic leading man in Disney’s I’ll Be Home for Christmas. It’s an unsuccessful transition as the young actor isn’t able to captivate our attention for the duration of a feature-length film. Who is the intended audience for this picture? It’s too childish for the teen crowd, and it will bore smaller children.
Jake (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) would rather spend Christmas in Mexico with this girlfriend (Jessica Biel) than go home for the holiday. This act of selfishness gets him dumped and in trouble with his parents. Jake’s father offers him the keys to his classic Porsche if Jake can make it to the dinner table on Christmas eve. This sets off an episodic odyssey that spans from Arizona to New York, which has to be traversed in a few day’s time.
I’ll Be Home for Christmas is a tamer version of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles for family viewing. It innocuous and inoffensive, but it’s also dull and charmless. JTT, who comes off so well on TV, is too bland to register in a longer format.
Director: Arlene Sanford
Stars: Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Jessica Biel, Adam LaVorgna