![]() He hasn’t seen her since.īut family dynamics will change when Jessica (now Anika Noni Rose), inspired by a written invite from her estranged dad, decides to send her kind and brainy 10-year-old daughter, Journey (an endearing Madalen Mills), to visit the grandfather she’s never known, just before the holidays. Jangle (Sharon Rose) died many years ago and Jeronicus sent away their gifted young daughter, Jessica (Diaana Babnicova), to find a better life without him. That is unless, as his friendly banker (Hugh Bonneville) informs him, he can produce a “revolutionary” invention by Christmas. We jump 30 years and Jangles and Things has become a dusty pawnshop that a sad, impoverished Jeronicus (now played by Forest Whitaker), long thwarted in his creative efforts, is about to lose. But Jeronicus falls on hard times after his hapless apprentice, Gustafson (Miles Barrow), steals his prize creation, a flamboyant mechanical puppet named Don Juan Diego (amusingly voiced by Ricky Martin), along with Jeronicus’ designs for a trove of other one-of-a-kind gadgets and contraptions. “The Greatest Inventor of All,” who owns a whimsical toy store called Jangles and Things in the quaint, imaginary town of Cobbleton. She relates the enchanting tale of Jeronicus Jangle (Justin Cornwell), a.k.a. That it stars a mainly Black cast in the kind of period, storybook-type roles traditionally filled by white actors is one of the movie’s most vital strengths.Ī “Princess Bride”-style framing device finds a loving matriarch ( Phylicia Rashad) reading to her wide-eyed young grandchildren (Ria Calvin, Kenyah Sandy) from a magical book. Twenty years later, it made its way instead to film, retaining the best of its crowd-pleasing theatrical roots while making solid use of its cinematic assets. Talbert, a highly successful and prolific playwright whose filmmaking credits include “Baggage Claim” and “Almost Christmas,” reportedly envisioned “Jingle Jangle” for the stage. ![]() ![]() Still, times being what they are, the film, which opens in limited theaters Friday, should score a massive in-home audience when it premieres next week on Netflix. Smartly conceived, lovingly mounted and beautifully performed, this Victorian era-set extravaganza nearly sings out to be enjoyed as a communal, big-screen experience. Talbert’s marvelous, groundbreaking musical-fantasy “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” stands to join the ranks of holiday movie classics. Because moviegoing carries risks during this time, we remind readers to follow health and safety guidelines as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health officials. ![]() The Times is committed to reviewing theatrical film releases during the COVID-19 pandemic. ![]()
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