MovieChat Forums > I'll Be Home for Christmas (1998) Discussion > I felt sorry for Jake and things that sh...

I felt sorry for Jake and things that should of happened

posted 19 years ago by jughead10m
13 replies | jump to latest

Okay so after his long journey cross country penniless he did learn that family is important more than just a crazy Porshe car but did he have to go through alot of hardships doing that cross country run with a Santa Suit glued to him and penniless.

This happened on account of the factor that he was making up for he and Ian were almost ripping off those football players from those fake ID's that didn't work. If Eddie hadn't of picked up Ian and put him in that locker a second time, then the three football players would have passed their exam from a cheating way on those computer beepers and Jake and Allie would have flied home together without a problem but no after question 2 there was a game over and Eddie and those three football players beat him up, knocked him out cold and put that Santa Suit on him and glued the hat and beard on him and left him in the desert without the plane tickets and without any money at all and not even an ATM card.

I am surprised he still wanted to go through his trip cross country at least when that fence man gave him the lift then they gave out Xmas presents which were hot items to kids and the cop named Max gave him a lift and Jake helped him with Margorie then he got a free bus ticket but he could have just let the bus take him back there but on the other hand I don't blame him for wanting to get back at Eddie for the way he and the three football players left him stranded in that desert.

When he got in the hotel room it was his mistake to say "I won't be home by 6" in releasing his anger to Eddie. I wanted to see him beat the crap out of Eddie and tear him apart and make him bleed after what he and those football jocks put him through. Eddie did however get what he deserved in Wisconsin when those cops finally arrested him and he did end up in jail where he deserves to be.

However just when Jake had a thousand bucks and the cab driver tells him about Mayor Wilson and his helping fill those turkey pots his stupid conscience starts to bother him and if Mayor Wilson was nice he could have brought Jake to the airport and bought him a plane ticket and given him enough money then for train fare but why didn't he I wonder.

Plus when Tracy bought the plane ticket Jake couldn't get on that because of no ID on him. He did get Allie back and proved to her that family means more than the car thats why he purposely didn't want to approach till 6:01 for that reason.

This at the family reunion scene disturbs me and it has for years. Jake hugs his father and sister and his father hugs his girlfriend Allie, at least Tracy and Carolyn didn't but when Jake approches his new Stepmom Caroline how come he just says a sweater size and why didn't they hug? Why? He would have been legally allowed to do that and after what he went through since Eddie and those football players left him stranded in the desert, he deserved a hug from Caroline so why didn't Jake hug her, after all from that earlier phone call to her she was anxious for him to come home as much as his father and sister were so why did Jake just tell her the sweater size and no hug why? I am sure in the way I paid attention she must have wanted one from his since she was his new second Mom that loved his Dad. Please explain that to me.

[–] thehiddendrive 19 years ago

Out of morbid curiosity, how old are you?

[–] jughead10m 19 years ago

That does not matter and is irrevelevant to what I said could you please just answer the first message I wrote please its very very important that you do that please. Try and understand this. Jake went cross country from that time in the desert penniless and without money and a whole Santa Suit all glued to him the beard and hat as well and the old ladies were able to get the hat off and Allie was able to the beard off. However understand this throughout that cross country trip, Jake was going through millions of times of hardship and grief and its wasn't glory in anyway. Plus he had no money of any kind on him. He finally makes it to the door and sees his family and yes one of the calls he made was to his attractive Step Mom Caroline and yes he hugs his Dad and yes his sister Tracy too and his Dad hugs his girlfriend but most importantly of all why didn't he hug Caroline, after what Eddie and those mean football players did to him and his struggling cross country run, he deserves a hug from Caroline because after that blackout I had in 2003 and the struggles I went through it till my lights got back on my female attractive friend gave me a very long comfortable hug so Caroline should have done it with him because its legal, and she married his Dad and she loves him the same as his Dad and sister Tracy do. Don't forget on the Brady Bunch that Carol Brady was not Greg Peters or Bobbys birth Mom just a Step Mom and she hugs them and gives them love and affection tons of times and in my opinion Caroline should have hugged him after that hardship journey that was caused by Eddie and those football players.

[–] lady_AJ 19 years ago

damn man, its only a movie! u dont hav to get so into it. "This happened on account of the factor......." if eddie hadnt hav caught ian then the jocks wud hav passed thier exam and there wud be no story which means no film. when u posted dis topic i expected u to go on about how u felt about it and stuff, not explain the whole damn storyline cos we already know about it (if u've seen it)

"This at the family reunion scene disturbs me and it has for years." why may i ask? once again its only a movie.

"Jake hugs his father and sister and his father.................." the whole jake just sayin a sweater size and not huggin her thing aint to do with it being "legal" hes probably jusy shy or sumfin and the woman was happy enough replyin to the comment so wots ur problem there?

sounds to me ur a little too obsessed wiv da film. its not gettin taken off the the tv (orwoteva) or gettin certified ilegal or sumfin so just calm down next time. k? but if ur really dat egar to find out and my explanation wernt good enough for u then ur gonna hav to find it out urself.

[–] elwyn5150 19 years ago

I think you both should be more concerned about the jocks. One day, they are using fake IDs, next cheating on exams then the day after, aggravated assault, kidnapping and attempted murder.

[–] rizdek 18 years ago

jughead...sorry for the other rude commenters. My take was that Jake was never happy that his father remarried, and didn't like his stepmother. Not anything she did; just that's the way he felt. She did everything she could to get him to like her. Giving her his sweater size was in response to a question she asked him early on and he gave her a smart remark answer. So it was a real breakthrough for him to give her his sweater size and ask hers. I never noticed they didn't hug; not sure why I missed that one. Of course, by the time you read this, youll probably have watched the movie a few more times and came up with your own rationale for the ending.

[–] jughead10m 18 years ago

Oh thanks for explaining that to me in why Jake didn't want to hug Carolyn after the long trip. The whole thing was since Jake went away to Palisades College in LA, for some unknown reason which is a 64 grand question, he never liked his stepmom and one reason I know is he loved his birth Mom that passed away and since Jake was already in college one or two years and his Dad remarried he thought his rushed into things real soon. He was upset that his birth Mom he loved died and that his Dad married too soon after the death of his first wife. Sure Carolyn did all she could to get Jake to like and love her but before the journey, I remember Jake telling Allie, don't mention Carolyn,it almost made me sick to my stomach, and during the journey telling Marjorie that he didn't care for his step Mom Carolyn, but why not if she was nice to him and never did anything mean to him or hurt him? What kind of chemistry was it that Jake had that made it from his own heart not to like his Step Mom in the first place till after the journey was done? Plus yes even though she was a perfect ten that was pretty and attractive what feelings were in him and his heart that made him say he didn't like her besides the factor that he didn't want his Dad to marry someone too soon after his first wife passed away? I guess the only female Jake felt a big love for at that time was just his girlfriend Allie. Could you come up with an answer for that, I would appreciate that.

But however when he finally came home I know from your answer he was allowed to hug Caroline since she married his Dad but I guess because the sweater size exchanges were Jakes beginning break throughs and he was at that time working toward changing his feelings of liking her, then I guess at a much later time hugging and kissing will start on it. Plus during that phone call that Jake made after Nolan passed out the hot gifts at the Childrens Center Carolyn was at that point in time asking him for a sweater size and thats why Jake only did that because even after arriving at the home Jake needed time to learn to like then love Carolyn his new stepmom. So in general Jake was allowed hug Carolyn his Stepmom but didn't want to and Carolyn didn't make the first move because she knew it would take Jake time to get to like her and make him uncomfortable too soon. After all in the old Dan Daily Billy Gray movie, The Girl Next Door the young son didn't like the girlfriend his father was engaged to either.

[–] rizdek 18 years ago

Can't come up with an answer for why children take out their anger for a parent dying on the next person their surviving parent marries. I haven't experienced it, and haven't talked to folks who have. I do know that it happens a lot in movies and I guess it happens in real life.

[–] jughead10m 18 years ago

So to according what Jake said to Marjorie in the metaphor, Jake was away at his college in LA when his birth Mom died by surprise and he had adjustments to make and most weren't made which was why his feelings and chemistry were that since his Dad met and married Carolyn he just didn't like her and he couldn't take his anger out on his Dad because he knew him all his life and loved him but didn't know Carolyn at all and wasn't ready to know her because when his Dad met and married Carolyn he was recuperating the loss of his birth Mom he loved all his life. That was my figuring out on reading between lines on what he said to Marjorie.

However at the very end of the journey now, he was working toward getting to know her and like her which was why he answered the sweater size question to Carolyn when he arrived at his home. But in changing his feelings toward Carolyn he at that moment felt he wasn't ready to hug her quite yet until things got better in his feelings.

Plus from something I forgot to mention in the previous post Jake didn't want to go home to Larchmont for Xmas in the first place, he wanted to go to Cabo San Lucas Mexico and Carolyn was part of the reason but however he wanted that Porshe which was why a change of heart but in that hardship journey he learned that family was much more important than a car and took learning to in time even accept Carolyn in the family.

[–] Livana_Faolan 16 years ago

I didn't watch the film in its entirety, because by the time I found out it was on it had less than an hour left. The one thing that did bother me, though, was the fact that Allie acted like she had done absolutely nothing wrong when she kissed Eddie. She basically cheated on Jake, and yet she shrugged it off and acted as though it meant nothing. Not only that, but she led Eddie on. Granted, Eddie wasn't a nice guy. But I still don't like the fact that Allie basically led him on.

[–] rdetjen 16 years ago

If he had had money there really wouldn't have been a movie since the whole point was that he got all the way from California to New York on NOTHING. And if things hadn't kept happening to frustrate his plans there wouldn't have been a point to the movie then either. I am trying to figure out the age thing though. He said he was 18. Which means he couldn't have been in school all that long. But he clearly said that the year before he had not gone home by telling his Dad that he stayed behind for some reason, which I can't remember what it was. And yes, he probably feels that by him marrying Carolyn so quickly after his mother's death, that it was forgetting her and turning his back on his memories. The end and asking for her sweater size was more of a step toward acceptance. As for the Dad hugging Allie it's apparent that they had known her and that he had been seeing her for quite awhile. I think it would have been kind of weird if he had hugged Carolyn in the end, the way it ended was better. I guess the best way to put his things that happened are showing his strength, maybe that won't really happen to anybody, all at the same time, but that's the point, it's the desperation to get there in time. Hopping on a plane (or staying on the stupid bus) would have been too easy.

[–] jughead10m 14 years ago

Hi after thinking things over if after Jake had cashed his Cabo San Lucas Tickets backs and got home easily with Allie by plane, there would be no point in what the plot and points of this movie is about. In other words if they made it easy for Jake to get home like he originally wanted there wouldn't be a movie the way the movie is supposed to be.

Sure it would have been great if Eddie wasn't in the area and he didn't pick up Ian and put him in that locker a second time and the Football Players had passed their exams and Jake with Allie got home easily but then there again wouldn't be a point either.

Or if Jake didn't stop to see Eddie and Allie at that Edelbrook Village and Allie didn't take his place on the bus Jake kindof would have gotten home easily too.

Plus its the same thing about in Wisconsin after he had that 1000 bucks in the palm of his hand when he could have gone home with that, when the cab driver mentioned that Mayor Wilson helps out poor people with his winnings then I guess Jakes conscience started to bother him because he knew that Mayor Wilson needed the money even though Mayor Wilson could have used a 1000 bucks from his savings to help those poor people instead.

Plus also if Mayor Wilson gave Jake plane fare money then the plot and point of its movie would be off too. They wanted to see him struggle at the airport in regard to the ticket agent asking for ID even though he had that password his sister Tracy gave him. But Jake was able to get away with sneaking on that cargo plane.

However when Jake purposely would be a minute late to 6:01 he realized first at the orphanage with Nolan that families came first instead of a Porshe.

Plus I also figured out why Jake didn't hug Caroline even though he would have been allowed to. Jake didn't like his step mom to begin with and it wasn't that Caroline was mean to him, it was just a feeling inside him where he felt his Dad rushed into it too soon and he missed the love and memories of his orignal birth Mom that passed away. The sweater size was just a break thru but in time, Jake would break thru and maybe hugs would happen later on. Sure he changed his mind at first for the Porshe but however, along the hardship journey he learned that family was more important than the Porshe and thats why he said to his father we still have work to finish on it on more times and Christmas's that I come home.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] dini0519 15 years ago

Why didn't he stand up to his dad more? Or Allie-instead of letting her take the ticket? Or Eddie? Or even the mayor? He didn't have to give away that money to the mayor since he was in dire need himself. But it's just a movie.

Dini