''All I Want for Christmas'' is a 1991 American romantic comedy Christmas film directed by

Robert Lieberman Robert Lieberman (born July 16, 1947) is an American motion picture and television director. Personal life Lieberman was married from June 27, 1990 to June 7, 2001 to actress Marilu Henner; the divorced couple has two children, Nicholas Morga ...

, and starring

Harley Jane Kozak Harley Jane Kozak (born January 28, 1957) is an American actress and author. She made her film debut in the slasher film ''The House on Sorority Row'' (1982), and had a recurring role as Mary Duvall on the soap opera '' Santa Barbara'' between 1 ...

, Lauren Bacall,

Thora Birch Thora Birch (born March 11, 1982) is an American actress and producer. She made her feature film debut in 1988 with a starring role in ''Purple People Eater'', for which she received a Young Artist Award for "Best Young Actress Under Nine Years ...

, Ethan Randall, and

Leslie Nielsen Leslie William Nielsen (11 February 192628 November 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters. Nielsen was bo ...

. The score was composed by

Bruce Broughton Bruce Harold Broughton (born March 8, 1945) is an American orchestral composer of television, film, and video game scores and concert works. He has composed several highly acclaimed soundtracks over his extensive career and has contributed man ...

, including a theme-setting song by Stephen Bishop.

Plot

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, siblings Ethan ( Ethan Randall) and Hallie O'Fallon (

) launch a scheme to get what they most want for Christmas. A scheme involving their parents, Catherine (

) and Michael (

Jamey Sheridan James Patrick Sheridan (born July 12, 1951) is an American actor known for playing a wide range of roles in theater, film, and television. He's best known for Randall Flagg in '' The Stand'' (1994), Captain James Deakins on '' Law & Order: Crimin ...

), and grandmother, Lillian ( Lauren Bacall). When Hallie meets Santa Claus (

), she asks for an unusual gift: her divorced parents back together again. As the children embark on their adventure, and while planning ahead, Tony Boer (

Kevin Nealon Kevin Nealon (; born November 18, 1953) is an American comedian and actor. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1986 to 1995, acted in several of the Happy Madison films, played Doug Wilson on the Showtime series '' Weeds'', and p ...

) takes an interest in Catherine. Ethan gets pre-occupied with not only his parents' romantic dilemma, but also his own, one brought about by his new friendship with Stephanie (Amy Oberer). An elaborate scheme evolves with mice, telephone calls, and an ice cream truck, as Ethan and Hallie try to achieve their goal with help from Stephanie, and see Tony as their primary obstacle. They succeed with a little Christmas magic from Santa Claus. Catherine decides to reject Tony and remarry Michael, completing Hallie's wish. Stephanie and Ethan talk one more time as she gives him a kiss; they begin a relationship, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Cast

as Catherine O'Fallon *

as Michael O'Fallon * Ethan Randall as Ethan O'Fallon *

as Tony Boer *

as Hallie O'Fallon *

Andrea Martin Andrea Louise Martin (born January 15, 1947) is an American-Canadian actress, singer, and comedian, best known for her work in the television series '' SCTV'' and ''Great News''. She has appeared in films such as '' Black Christmas'' (1974), ''W ...

as Olivia * Lauren Bacall as Lillian Brooks *Amy Oberer as Stephanie *

Renée Taylor Renée Adorée Taylor (née Wexler; born March 19, 1933) is an American actress, screenwriter, playwright, producer and director.Taylor was nominated for an Academy Award for co-writing the screenplay for the film '' Lovers and Other Strangers' ...

as Sylvia *

as Santa Claus * Felicity LaFortune as Susan * Camille Saviola as Sonya *

Marc Alaimo Marc Alaimo (born Michael Joseph Alaimo; May 5, 1942) is an American actor, known for his villainous roles. He is best known for his role as recurring villain Gul Dukat in the TV series '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''. Career Alaimo is a classica ...

as Frankie (credited as "Michael Alaimo") *

Josh Keaton Joshua Luis Wiener (born February 8, 1979), known by his stage name Josh Keaton, is an American voice actor. He is known for his roles as Takashi 'Shiro' Shirogane in '' Voltron: Legendary Defender'', Spider-Man in various media in addition to ...

as Brad *Elizabeth Cherney as Paige

Production

In June 1991, it was announced Thom Eberhardt was set to write and direct the film, which had two working titles, ''Home For Christmas'' and ''Home For the Holidays''. One month later, various sources reported that Eberhardt had been replaced by director-producer

, who was known primarily for television and commercial work. On 24 Jul 1991, HR stated that the picture was being rushed into production by

Brandon Tartikoff Brandon Tartikoff (January 13, 1949 – August 27, 1997) was an American television executive who was the president of NBC from 1981 to 1991. He was credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation with such hit series as ''Hill Stre ...

, a former television executive and Paramount Pictures’ new chairman, with the goal of a 1991, rather than 1992, holiday-season opening. Shortly thereafter the film was given its release title ''All I Want For Christmas'', would be his first for the studio. Due to the short shooting schedule as cause for Eberhardt amicably departed the film. Gail Parent and

Neal Israel Neal Israel (born July 27, 1945) is an American actor, screenwriter, film and television producer, and director best known for his comedic work in the 1980s for films such as '' Police Academy'', ''Real Genius'', and '' Bachelor Party''. Biogr ...

were the original co-writers of Eberhardt's script, but following re-writes by Richard Kramer both their names went uncredited.

Reception

The film was panned by critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, it holds a rating of from reviews.

Home media

The film was released on DVD on October 5, 2004.DVD release
/ref> The film was also released in the

digital format Digital data, in information theory and information systems, is information represented as a string of discrete symbols each of which can take on one of only a finite number of values from some alphabet, such as letters or digits. An example is ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:All I Want For Christmas (Film) 1990s Christmas comedy films 1991 romantic comedy films 1991 films American Christmas comedy films American romantic comedy films Paramount Pictures films Films scored by Bruce Broughton Films directed by Robert Lieberman 1990s English-language films 1990s American films Santa Claus in film