I never really liked “Silver Screenings” as the name of my movies column. “Reel Talk” makes more sense. The homophonic pun signifies both my blackness and my creative desire to write about movies.
Christmas has come and gone, but ey, I be busy. When I asked the fam what they would like to watch for Christmas movie 2025, we all expected that my wife would suggest A Muppet Christmas Carol, but she deferred to other suggestions. I merely requested that the movie be a Black movie. When asked about Jingle Jangle, I agreed because I thought I hadn’t seen it.
I attribute my mistake to my hereditary poor memory (thanks, mom). I immediately recognized the Jangles and Things storefront. Whoops! Still, I knew I wouldn’t be completely bored, because I couldn’t remember the plot. It didn’t take long for Jeronicus Jangle’s apprentice, Gustafson, to abscond with the former’s miracle live Don Juan Diego doll at the behest of the conceited doll itself. Gustafson also steals Jangle’s book of inventions and becomes Toymaker of the Year for twenty-eight straight years. Despite his genius, Jeronicus gives in to despair. He loses his flair, a Zach Galifianakis-like magical knack for imagination and mathematics. Director and writer Robert E. Tablet compounds the strife by refrigerating his wife, Joanne. Jeronicus alienates his daughter, Jessica, and she abandons him to his melancholic state.
I now remember why I misremembered watching Jingle Jangle. It suffers from the Pursuit of Happyness paradox: it’s a movie that bombards viewers with negative interactions up until the joyful moment at its conclusion. I think Jangles and Things is a booming business for about ten minutes of the film’s 122m runtime, with most of that length dedicated to the “This Day number.” From there, comparisons to A Christmas Carol are apropos, though Forrest Whittaker as old and bitter Jeronicus channels the Grinch as much as he does Ebeneezer Scrooge without ever saying “Bah, humbug.” Ms. Johnston all but spreadeagles her goodies in Jeronicus’ face, and he can’t even manage a Bartelby “I would prefer not to.” It’s no wonder Jessica has nothing to do with him. The man sucks.
When he finds the balls to send for Jessica, she instead sends Journey (Madalen Mills), her own daughter instead. To prove that she’s his granddaughter, Journey beings to read a letter from her mother: “Dear Father,” and he interrupts with “Allegedly.”
What an asshole! Who says that to their granddaughter upon their first meeting? Family! A child!!! So yeah, Forrest Whittaker can play a callous old man who responds with petulance rather than gratitude when Journey solves for the “Square Root of Possible,” correcting his miscalculation. And Ms. Johnston wants a piece of him? Maybe it’s because he can sing. Wait, Forrest Whittaker can sing??? Yeah, apparently after winning an Academy Award for The Last King of Scotland (2007) the man took to Broadway! Dang, to be Black and talented!
“Make It Work Again” is a legit catchy song, and it wasn’t until Jessica sings she makes me do a double-take. Whose robust, soulful, melodious, powerhouse voice is that? My wife shakes her head and says boy, that’s Anika Noni Rose. I’m sorry I don’t recognize “Tiana” on sight, yall. Last time I saw her was in For Colored Girls (2010) and I feel like most of us took a vow to avoid discussing that movie. Anyway, yeah, Anika effortlessly blows the doors off this song, and there’s no mistaking as to how she won her role as Jessica.
Straight up, Jeronicus’s new assistant, Edison, is everything I expect from bad child acting. Fortunately, the focus of the film from the moment she appears, Mills’s Journey, impresses. Full of joy, optimism, and altruism, she foils Jeronicus’s plans to toil in misery by finding and activating Jessica’s magnum opus, the Buddy 3000, with the Power of Belief.
Reel Talk? “The Power of Belief” works for me, especially in a family-friendly movie that deploys lexicon such as “the circumference of the spectacular” or “the second derivative of the sensational,” let alone the number, “Square Root of Possible.” Before activating Buddy, Edison asks Journey what makes her think she can get the automaton to work, and she retorts that there’s nothing that says she can’t. I love this energy, from Black Girls Code to Black Girls Love Math, to Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Jingle Jangle joins in the advocacy for Black girls in STEM.
Blerd Beats 