Jingle All the Way

In Minneapolis, workaholic mattress salesman Howard Langston loves his wife Liz, and nine-year-old son Jamie, but rarely finds time for them. He is often put in a bad light by his neighbor, divorcé Ted Maltin, who harbors unrequited feelings for Liz. Howard misses Jamie's karate class graduation, due to being pulled over by Officer Hummel.

Howard resolves to redeem himself by fulfilling Jamie's Christmas wish for a Turbo Man action figure based on the popular television superhero. Liz in fact asked him to buy the toy two weeks earlier, which he forgot about. On Christmas Eve, Howard sets out to buy the toy but finds that every store has sold out. In the process he develops a rivalry with Myron Larabee, a postal worker father with the same goal.

In desperation, Howard attempts to buy a figure from a counterfeit ring run by con artists dressed in Santa suits, which results in a massive fight in the warehouse, broken up by the police. He narrowly escapes arrest by posing as an undercover officer. Exhausted at his failure and out of fuel, Howard goes to Mickey's Diner and calls home, intending to tell Liz the truth.