Movie Review: I’ll Be Home For Christmas (1998) seen on DVD and multiple streaming platforms

Comedy; some scenes may be unsuitable for young children; mature themes, minor romantic situations, including scenes which discuss divorce

This holiday classic follows a college student who is tasked with finding a way home for the holidays after a prank pulled on him at a school dance results in him getting stuck in the desert wearing a Santa suit. Meanwhile he must contend with a school bully and rival for the affections of his girlfriend as he tries to win her over despite his situation.

This movie has the honor of being one of those movies I first watched with mom in the weeks leading up to Christmas that year. I’ve seen it many times since then but at the time, there was no way I could possibly write a blog for this movie as I did not follow movies in the same way as I do now. Anyway, despite this being a great movie for the holidays, it’s existence is really the result of his father refusing to help him out of the situation he’s is as he does not believe the story that he tells him despite it being true. I think the prank they pulled on him in the movie was bad and if I was in his situation, I would want mom to come and get me as it’s Christmas and I believe no one should spend the holidays alone. One thing this movie was clever in doing, (and this will boost the overall rating of it,) is being able to portray adult like situations while still making it a believable kid’s movie. Throughout this film, there are scenes which depict mild romance, a scene that shows a divorced couple working through their problems, a man who is caught transporting stolen goods, and the main character’s quest to court the woman of his dreams. These are situations that you normally don’t find in movies produced by Walt Disney but this movie managed to sneak them in and I’m sure most adults can relate to all of these problems hence this movie is for both children and adults.

One thing I have to criticize this movie for is it’s predictable ending. I mean, it was pretty obvious that he was going to make it home for the holidays. After all, it’s a Walt Disney movie and most of those movies have to have a happy ending to appeal to a younger demographic.

Anyway, there’s not too much else I have to say about this movie except that I’ve seen it so many times that it was one of those movies I did not have to watch first to be able to review. I’ve been wanting to review this movie for a while now but I just didn’t know how I was going to word it or what I was going to say. Anyway, for anyone looking for a holiday movie, this one would be definitely recommended.

Movie rating: 5 out of 10

Next movie review: TBD