Do the Math: ‘Jingle Jangle’ Brings Big Holiday Magic

Jingle Jangle is the holiday movie Black people deserve. Done. Oh, I already did the one-sentence review bit for Moana so it’d be tacky to do it again? Okay, bet. Let me just wipe the tears out of my eyes and get to work. *deep breath* Jingle Jangle is a colorful, catchy, touching film and the spiritual successor to the network musicals of the 80s and 90s like NBC’s 1989 Polly—directed by Debbie Allen and also starring Phylicia Rashad—and ABC/Disney’s 1997 Cinderella—produced by and featuring Whitney Houston. And we have been due another of these for a long, long time. Charles Dickens could never. Image courtesy of Netflix Who All Gon Be There? David E. Talbert takes the helm as both writer and director and guides the ship well. The movie’s heartfelt core message touches on loss, belief, guilt, forgiveness, math, and magic. It seems like a lot to pack into one film, more heartstrings than can be tugged without fraying, but Jingle Jangle manages to hold the delicate balance buoyed by charm and holiday vibes. It flows along like the classic Hollywood movie musicals of yore. A Singin’ in the Rain with way more people of color and no twenty-minute dream ballet. The emotional journey is packed but solid, resolving satisfyingly for everyone—especially our plucky, precocious heroine and the delightfully charming mail carrier. A big part of that is probably due to the masterful cast assembled for this film, particularly said plucky heroine Journey Jangle—played brilliantly by Broadwa…