All I Want for Christmas (1991)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

A Masterpiece!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The acting in this movie is really good.

I enjoyed this movie the first time around. True there may be some cliché themes, but it is a Christmas movie. So, give it a break. I know the critics hated it. Perhaps they lost sight of what the movie is supposed to be about: asking Santa for the ultimate gift a re-united family.Now that I am a parent I appreciate this film even more. The daughter who is now 6, loves the film and can immediately identify with the character Hailey, played by Thora Birch. Laruen Bacall reminds me a lot of my own grandmother. Bottom line: if you haven't seen this film yet, watch it with an open mind. Even better, watch it with a child.

"All I Want For Christmas" was uniformly trashed by critics when it came out. It was easily one of the worst reviewed films of 1991. Why oh why didn't I listen to them?The plot is so generic that you know how it's going to end within the first ten minutes. Two parents are no longer together. The mother has found a new boyfriend. The kids do what they can to ditch the new boyfriend and get the parents back together. With that stale of a plot, the only way it could've worked out would have been if the acting was filled with passion and the direction evoked as much Christmas magic as possible. That didn't happen.There is not a single heartfelt moment to be found in this film. Not one. I don't even know where to begin. Thora Birch has turned out to be an impressive actress. However, she is only grating and precocious to the extreme in "All I Want For Christmas". Her brother, played by Ethan Embry, had no character definition whatsoever. His substory involving a teenage romance was underdeveloped and seemed better suited for another film.The adult characters are just as bad. The filmmakers could've saved money by utilizing cardboard cutouts instead of actual actors. The Mom, Dad, and Mom's new "jerk" boyfriend are shallower than a kiddie pool.I was even put off by the shameless plugging of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. It's a sad fact that product placement has been commonplace for a long time now but...come on! Don't they understand that if the product is shoved in your face that it only serves as an unpleasant distraction? At least their Coca-Cola placement was slightly less obvious.Even Santa would only give this movie to the naughty kids. 1/10

All I want For Christmas is about two kids that are very upset by their parents divorce and the only thing they want for christmas is for them to get back again and be a happy family. It's a cute nice little story, but this stuff never happens in real life. Divorced Parents hardly ever get back together, it's an ugly reality, but that's why we have movies such as these to make us feel happy. Thora Birch gives a great performance, cute little thora. I would give All I Want For Christmas 8/10

Leslie Nielsen took a break from his usual latter day lowbrow comedy to portray a department store Santa Claus who just might be the real thing in this 1991 Paramount release. Shades of "Miracle On 34th Street." The story here is not exactly feel good material since it has to do with a couple who are planning to separate and then divorce so close to the Christmas holiday. This really upsets their kids (Thora Birch and Ethan Embry) so they decide to ask the aforementioned Santa to help them in their efforts to bring their parents back together in time for the holidays. Almost everything in the film is overacted and used to a rather poor effect. All I want for Christmas is to know that I'll never have to see this one again.