Well intentioned Christmas film, just a little undercooked.

Jonathan Taylor Thomas is the lead of 'I'll Be Home for Christmas' and he's pretty good, especially at playing the cocky school kid. I feel his arc is satisfactory, though it would've been nice if there was a longer spell of him realising/correcting his behaviour.

Still, I feel there's enough in there to justify the (predictable) happy ending. I, also, like the road trip elements. Elsewhere on the cast, a young Jessica Biel appears as Allie. She's solid, as is Adam LaVorgna as Eddie. It's also noteworthy to see Gary Cole involved.

It's nothing impactful or anything, but it's fine festive viewing.

In my opinion, this is an excellent Christmas movie with a message to it. If you ask me, every mishap that Jake (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) encountered while trying to get home from California to New York for Christmas was absolutely hilarious. The most hilarious one, to me, was when he encountered Eddie (Adam LaVorgna) in his hotel room. This was because he had Jake's girlfriend (Jessica Biel) with him. Please, don't tell me my sense of enjoyment is twisted. In addition, the bus driver was a complete jerk. Also, from the looks of it, the Porsche that was at stake was absolutely vintage. The reason I said that is because it was a 1957 model. In conclusion, if you like Jonathan Taylor Thomas or Christmas movies, this is one you'll definitely want to see.

Being one of my favourite novels, I was thrilled when a friend invited me to a group reading of The Woman In Black, (the book begins on Christmas Eve) where we each read two chapters aloud. After the excellent read,I felt like relaxing with a festive Disney flick. Remembering seeing the odd clip on the Disney Channel in the early 2000's, I set off home to watch this for Christmas.

View on the film:

Having to make his own journey back home for X-Mas after being left stranded in the desert, JTT gives a very good performance as Jake, who is given a sarcastic streak, which becomes more prominent with each unusual character Jake meets on his hitch-hike home. In only her second film credit at the time, Jessica Biel gives Jake's dream girl Allie a feisty edge, with Allie pushing back against any demands lads try to put on her.

One of just two feature films she has directed out of 113 directing credits! (With TV series making the bulk of the impressive list) director Arlene Sanford & The Rocketeer (1991-also reviewed) cinematographer Hiro Narita bring merriment in the festive set-pieces, with Sanford tracking Jake in a dressed as Santa marathon run,and going into funny close-up,as Jake shoves a large Santa plush toy aside,so he can finally get some sleep on the road.

Rushing home after being given the challenge by his dad that if he reaches returns by Christmas Eve, he will win a brand new car as a Christmas present, the screenplay by Tom Nursall, Harris Goldberg and Michael Allin surprisingly, (especially for a Disney movie) make Jake a real brat, with his lone motive for the X-Mas reunion, being the car,not family. Whilst the sarcastic dialogue does stop the flick from becoming sickly sweet sentimental, it also makes Jake a rather unlikeable chap to follow home for Christmas.