I'll Be Home for Christmas (1998) Rank 5 Reviews

filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles for the Disney Channel set. Surprisingly engaging, I'll Be Home for Christmas is no Citizen Kane, but it is lively family fare. Sure, the jokes are pretty lame, but you get that cute little Jonathan Taylor Thomas on ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)

The Cranky Critic (Chuck Schwartz)

Early on in I'll Be Home for Christmas, Jonathan Taylor Thomas' latest, and lamest, family-oriented flick there's a joke about learning French by osmosis. It involves sleeping on the book. Cranky took one look at JTT's face, once the santa suit and beard ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at The Cranky Critic (Chuck Schwartz)

DVD Net (Jules Faber)

Our story finds young wheeler-dealer Jake (Home Improvementâ��s Jonathan Taylor Thomas) about to spend Christmas with his girlfriend Ally, in sunny California. Unfortunately, she wants to go home to New York (coincidentally, right near where Jake lives). ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at DVD Net (Jules Faber)

Light Views, Reviews & Previews (John Larsen)

Talk about bad timing. As Walt Disney Pictures prepares for the release of their annual Christmas movie, the star of the film decides to leave his popular television show. As rumors circulate why he left the show, his theatrical film stock and goodwill ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Light Views, Reviews & Previews (John Larsen)

Nitrate Online (Elias Savada)

Family fare. Pure, sweet, and PG-rated. Itâ��s sugar-coated household comedy wrapped in a simple holiday gift wrap and starring Home Improvementâ��s Jonathan Taylor Thomas. According to press material Mr. Thomas maintains a straight "A" average in ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Nitrate Online (Elias Savada)

kids-in-mind

A college student (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) is offered a unique incentive to travel across the country for his family's holiday ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at kids-in-mind

San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)

There are three kinds of holiday movies: those that instill a holiday feeling; those that kindle an already present holiday feeling; and those that threaten to wreck a holiday. ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)

filmcritic.com heads Home for Christmas

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles for the Disney Channel set. Surprisingly engaging, I'll Be Home for Christmas is no Citizen Kane, but it is lively family fare. Sure, the jokes are pretty lame, but you get that cute little Jonathan Taylor Thomas on ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at filmcritic.com heads Home for Christmas

Sun Newspapers of Cleveland

Judging by its lackluster first weekend (see "Cleveland Hit List" on this page), Disney's "I'll Be Home for Christmas" could turn out as the first holiday movie to be up and gone before Thanksgiving. That's too bad because this isn't such a ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Sun Newspapers of Cleveland

Film Quips Online (John R. McEwen)

Look, I don't expect all Disney characters to be patterned after Jesus Christ. But shouldn't they at least have some redeeming ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Film Quips Online (John R. McEwen)

Dustin Putman

"I'll Be Home for Christmas" surprised me. Granted, I wasn't expecting very much, especially when most liveaction Disney films are admittedly terrible, but this film was actually quite enjoyable, thanks to mostly likable characters and a worthwhile, if ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Dustin Putman

Edward Johnson-Ott

Like "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," "I'll Be Home For Christmas" is a crosscountry road story about the travails of trying to return home for the holidays. Jonathan Taylor Thomas stars in this lightweight Disney comedy that, while far from memorable, ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Edward Johnson-Ott

Palo Alto Online (Kate Manning)

Jake Wilkinson (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) is a self-absorbed boarding school student and scam artist whose ability to charm his way through any situation is tested when, because of a failed scheme and some dissatisfied customers seeking revenge, he finds ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Palo Alto Online (Kate Manning)

Jamie Peck

There's a yule log in every fire, a turkey on every table and a live-action, family-oriented flick from Disney in every multiplex, so it must be the holidays. Examples of that latter seasonal standby include such deadly fare as "The Santa Clause" and ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Jamie Peck

ShowBIZ Data

Most critics are not about to let I'll Be Home for Christmas off the hook as just another holiday kids movie. Thelma Adams in the New York Post objects to releasing a Christmas movie so early in November, adding that this one "would be unwelcome at any ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at ShowBIZ Data

Brilliant Observations on 1173 Films (Clayton Trapp)

I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS (1998) **1/2 Winsome smartass teen Christmas flick replete with vultures, liederhosen, dog farts, octogenarian Tom Jones groupies, sleigh theft, several parades and an old red Porsche. What I'm saying, I think, is that Tom ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Brilliant Observations on 1173 Films (Clayton Trapp)

artechock (Borissa Hellmann)

Manche Nebenfigur gibt dem Star des Films die richtigen Repliquen, damit er sein komisches Potential voll ausbreiten kann. Im Zweifelsfall ist das eben auch ein weiblicher Geier in der WÃ¼ste. So gesichtet bei dem Film EINE WÃ�STE BESCHERUNG von Arlene ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at artechock (Borissa Hellmann)

FOCUS Online

Weil ihm sein Erzrivale Eddie (Adam La Vorgna) die Freundin (Jessica Biel) ausspannen will, fÃ¤llt der egoistische College-Student Jake Wilkinson (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) einem bÃ¶sen SchÃ¼lerstreich zum Opfer: Er wacht â�� als Weihnachtsmann verkleidet ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at FOCUS Online

Houston Chronicle

Well, you could go to the local theater and see Disney's I'll Be Home for Christmas. Nah. It would be better to watch It's a Wonderful Life for the 101st time. Unless you are a preteen who considers Jonathan Taylor Thomas cute, in which case this ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Houston Chronicle

Boxoffice Magazine

Likable Jonathan Taylor Thomas ("Wild America") stars as Jake, a schemingly entrepreneurial college student who wants to fly with his girlfriend Allie ("Ulee's Gold's" Jessica Biel") to Cabo San Lucas for Christmas vacation. But Allie opts for a family ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Boxoffice Magazine

The Onion A.V. Club (Keith Phipps)

Wizened hunklet Jonathan Taylor Thomas stars in the prematurely released holiday comedy I'll Be Home For Christmas as a conniving college student lured back from California to his upper-middle-class home in New York with the promise of an antique ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at The Onion A.V. Club (Keith Phipps)

The BigScreen Cinema Guide - Reader Reviews

Jonathan Taylor Thomas stars as Jake Wilkinson, a self-absorbed college student who, just days before Christmas, awakens to find himself stranded in the middle of the California desert, wearing a Santa suit and a white beard glued to his face. The butt ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at The BigScreen Cinema Guide - Reader Reviews

Steve Rhodes

Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Tom Sawyer from TOM AND HUCK, plays a goodnatured, college con man. Although he organizes quizcheating scams and hacks travel agency computers, Jake is a loveable rogue with a heart of gold.The jokes in the movie are so silly ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Steve Rhodes

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)

Pre-teen magazine cover boy Jonathan Taylor Thomas kicks off the 1998 holiday season withI'll Be Home for Christmas, and the results are only slightly better than coal in your stocking.A contrived seasonal saga from Arlene Sanford (A ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)

Detroit News (Susan Stark)

...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Detroit News (Susan Stark)

Ultimate Guide to Disney DVD

Disney's 1998 live-action holiday comedy I'll Be Home for Christmas stars Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who rose to popularity earlier in the decade, as Jake Wilkinson, a self-centered, cunning, bratty college student in California. In many ways, this film ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Ultimate Guide to Disney DVD

CNN Showbiz (Paul Tatara)

Can you say, "It's tool time!" The people at Disney can. They produce the TV series "Home Improvement" and they've now taken the show's teen-age heartthrob, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and put him in a movie called "I'll Be Home For Christmas." The studio ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at CNN Showbiz (Paul Tatara)

Susan Granger

Curious coincidence: when Tim Allen of "Home Improvements" made a splash on the big screen, his movie was called "The Santa Claus," now his TVson, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, dons the red suit to star in "I'll Be Home for Christmas." He plays a slick ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Susan Granger

ReelViews (James Berardinelli)

If I'll Be Home for Christmas has any hope for success, it's because the late-1998 film roster is surprisingly lean when it comes to holiday-themed offerings. However, it's unlikely that the broad appeal of Home Alone ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)

Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Love him or hate him, you still have to feel sorry for Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Not only has the teen star taken a lot of heat from the inevitable backlash against the fading television series "Home Improvement," it seems he's now stuck making ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Chicago NewCityNet (Ellen Fox)

Tiger Beat centerfold Jonathan Taylor Thomas is Jake, a So-Cal college con artist who scraps two tickets to Cabo San Lucas when Dad calls up and promises Son the Porsche if he can make it home to New York by Christmas Eve. Problem is, he's been left in ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Chicago NewCityNet (Ellen Fox)

James Sanford

My parents like to hold it over my head that I once insisted on being taken to see "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" many moons ago; they remember it as one of the many trying sacrifices they've had to make over the years. Ha! They don't know from ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at James Sanford

Austin Chronicle (Hollis Chacona)

Beware of seasonal comedies whose titles echo Christmas carol refrains. Remember Jingle All the Way? Heed the omen. Oh, I'll Be Home for Christmas doesn't have the aggravating decibel level or nearly the mindless mayhem of Jingle's massive affront to the ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Austin Chronicle (Hollis Chacona)

ReelViews (James Berardinelli)

I'll Be Home for Christmas represents the ultimate insult to a film-goer: a made-for-TV movie that has been dumped into theaters to rake in a few extra dollars before it slips onto video shelves, then debuts next year on ABC's The Wonderful World of ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)

Cinematter (Matt Williams)

It must be the holiday season already. Stores are stocked with decorations galore, and the local theaters are stocked with "feel-good" holiday films, like I'll Be Home for Christmas. However, don't be fooled by its title...you aren't likely to build up ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Cinematter (Matt Williams)

Teen Movie Critic (Vivian Rose)

'll be Home for Christmas is a splendid holiday comedy that the whole family can enjoy. Johnathan Taylor Thomas stars as Jake, a self-absorbed prep-school student whose father wants him home for Christmas. Jake is resentful of his stepmother, whom his ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Teen Movie Critic (Vivian Rose)

Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents

Jake Wilkinson (JONATHAN TAYLOR THOMAS) is a California college student who wants to take his girlfriend, Allie (JESSICA BIEL), to Cabo San Lucas over their Christmas break. Not happy that his father (GARY COLE) remarried so soon after his mother's ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents

Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

``Pleasantville'' is a movie about a bland 1950s world in which lives go around in circles, until time travelers break in with the virus of change. Some writers have attacked the movie, ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

Digital Hit Entertainment's review

I can safely state that the Evans family Christmas night tradition of toasted turkey sandwiches, eggnog, and a viewing of White Christmas is in no danger of being usurped. Walt Disney Pictures' I'll Be Home For Christmas is a totally unoriginal, ...read the complete I'll Be Home for Christmas movie review at Digital Hit Entertainment's review

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