Product Details

• Actors: Harley Jane Kozak, Jamey Sheridan, Ethan Embry, Kevin Nealon, Thora Birch
• Directors: Robert Lieberman
• Writers: Richard Kramer, Thom Eberhardt
• Producers: Marykay Powell, Robert P. Cohen, Stan Rogow, Vicky Herman
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: October 1, 1996
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304168950
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #232,515 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In this family-friendly holiday film, all Ethan and Hallie want for Christmas is for their parents to get back together. Catherine (Parenthood's Harley Jane Kozak) and Michael (Chicago Hope's Jamey Sheridan) have been divorced for a year and now Catherine's dating a guy no one can stand, including her mother Lillian (Lauren Bacall). Michael, meanwhile, has opened a successful diner, but he misses Catherine. When Hallie (Thora Birch, years before American Beauty) overhears Catherine tell Lillian she and Tony (Kevin Nealon) are planning to marry, she and Ethan (Sweet Home Alabama's Ethan Embry) come up with a plan to strand their parents alone together on Christmas Eve. Hallie even asks Santa (Leslie Nielsen) to help them out. All I Want for Christmas doesn't pack any surprises, but it's suitable for all ages and features lively cameos from Andrea Martin as Lillian's housekeeper and Renée Taylor as Catherine's rodent-fearing wedding planner. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars NOT GREAT BUT BETTER THAN SOME THINK, December 13, 2004

By 

Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: All I Want for Christmas (DVD)

Is this a classic Christmas movie like Miracle on 34th Street or A Christmas Story? No...not even close. But neither is it the worst Christmas movie ever made as some have proclaimed. Anyone who thinks so obviously has never seen "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians"

The basic plot is about two kids, Ethan & Hallie played by Ethan Embry (Dutch) and Thora Birch respectively. All they want for Christmas is to spend the holiday with their divorced parents (Harley Jane Kozak & Jamey Sheridan) and hopefully get them back together. But their mom is all set to marry snotty yuppie Tony played by SNL alum Kevin Nealon.

So they not only have to find a way to break up the new relationship, but also find a way to get their parents to rekindle their old flame. Along the way they enlist the aid of Santa claus played by Leslie Nielsen. The movie also features Lauren Bacall as the kid's grandmother.

It's pretty standard formula stuff. but the kids are cute and mean well and there's some genuine sincerity in the movie, if not a bit of holiday magic. You could do much worse than this if you're looking for a holiday film to watch with the kids.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun Family Christmas Classic, December 13, 2000

By 

A. Jasper Rains (Missouri) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All I Want for Christmas [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This movie is a wonderfully fun Christmas time! We watch it every Christmas season. The plot is predictable but a young Thora Birch is an excellent asset. The comedy is fresh and the belly laughs are numerous. Lauren Bacall gives an excellent performance as Grandma. Children will love it and adults will appreciate the humor. It is a modern day Christmas classic.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cute, cheesy, fun, December 10, 2004

By 

Brandon Witt--redbirdboy "redbirdboy" (Denver, Co United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: All I Want for Christmas (DVD)

I loved this movie so much when I was a kid. It is one that I watch every Christmas. Two siblings want their divorced parents to get back together for Christmas. Big brother doesn't want to leave it up to Santa and comes up with his own plan. Insanity ensues, of course. It is simply a cute story. Exactly what a Christmas movie should be. Make hot chocolate, pop corn, grab a blanket and snuggle up with your kids. Bright, warm, funny, innocent. It will become a family tradition.