Brian Levant directs this festive comedy starring Arnold
Schwarzenegger. Howard Langston (Schwarzenegger) is a busy executive who wants
to keep in his son's good books by buying him the present at the top of his
Christmas list: the Turbo Man doll. The only problem is that Turbo Man is the
most popular toy in America and most department stores have sold out. Howard
spends a desperate Christmas Eve attempting to track down his son's dream
present, but finds himself in constant conflict with a crazed postman on a
similar mission. Amazon.co.uk Review It's Christmas Eve, and Arnold needs to
find a Turbo Man action figure, the craze of the season. Only they're sold
out, of course. So the race is on, and the Austrian Oak must do fierce battle
with other shoppers and merchants alike, all for the prize toy with which to
purchase his son's affections. All of which is unwittingly very sad, on the
content level. But the film supposes itself to be amiable enough, on its own
shabby terms, even when it climbs out of the screen and starts gnawing at your
furniture. If the humour were to get broader it would make HDTV obsolete. The
tone can only be termed good-naturedly mean-spirited. Goofy carnival music
runs continuously in the background so we never forget that what we're seeing
is, er, um, funny. All the action is composed of comic violence, like an unhip
Warner Bros. cartoon. Do the filmmakers actually consider this cynical foray
to be indicative of the Christmas spirit? Apparently so, because the
resolution has Arnold winning quite inadvertently, and offers no clear
alternative to the competitive commercialism that drives the film's attempts
at humour. In a key scene that's meant to be touching, Arnold and his chief
rival Sinbad sit down for a heart-to-heart in which we learn that receiving
much-wanted Christmas presents in our formative years is responsible for our
success in adulthood. You get that Turbo Man, you'll be a billionaire; don't
get it, you'll be a loser. Such is the formidable challenge of parenthood, to
cater to the child's whims while it can still make a difference. This is
what's wrong with America. --Jim Gay,