History YMMV / IllBeHomeForChristmas

* HilariousInHindsight: The N Sync song in the end credits when Creator/JessicaBiel would years later marry Music/JustinTimberlake

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Jake; again, the only reason he's going home for Christmas is because his family bribed him with a car, the central conflict of the film is him making it home on time to get it, and he cons good people in his efforts to get home. While [[FreudianExcuse he does make it a point to basically say that he thought his widowed father remarried too soon after his mother passed]] too, he's even told he shouldn't blame his new stepmother for that. Not hard to see why even though he turns the car down at the end and is just happy to be home with his family, it still rings hollow and [[BrokenAesop feels like it didn't impact things the way it should]].

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Jake; again, the only reason he's going home for Christmas is because his family bribed him with a car, the central conflict of the film is him making it home on time to get it, and he cons good people in his efforts to get home. While he does make it a point to basically say that he thought his widowed father remarried too soon too, he's even told he shouldn't blame his new stepmother for that. Not hard to see why even though he turns the car down at the end and is just happy to be home with his family, it still rings hollow and [[BrokenAesop feels like it didn't impact things the way it should]].

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Music/NSync's "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" is an undeniable favorite listen at Christmastime and its association with movie definitely doesn’t hurt that either.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Jake; again, the only reason he's going home for Christmas is because his family bribed him with a car, the central conflict of the film is him making it home on time to get it, and he cons good people in his efforts to get home.

* DesignatedHero: Jake is motivated to go home for Christmas not because he wants to be with his family (which is trying to piece itself back together since his mother died and their father remarried), not to be with his girlfriend, but because he's promised a Porsche if he gets home by Christmas dinner. Not only does he have to be bribed to spend Christmas with his family, but in his efforts to get there he steals from, lies to, and manipulates numerous good-hearted people around him. Also, the reason he's stuck in the Santa suit is a revenge prank from three jocks that paid him to get someone to help them cheat on their final exams. Even when he demonstrates his JerkWithAHeartOfGold traits later in the film as his CharacterDevelopment kicks in, Jake is not a very likeable person.

* DesignatedHero: Jake is motivated to go home for Christmas not because he wants to be with his family (which is trying to piece itself back together since his mother died and their father remarried), not to be with his girlfriend, but because he's promised a Porsche if he gets home by Christmas dinner. Not only does he have to be bribed to spend Christmas with his family, but in his efforts to get there he steals from, lies to, and manipulates numerous good-hearted people around him. Also, the reason he's stuck in the Santa suit is a revenge prank from three jocks that paid him to get someone help them cheat on their final exams. Even when he demonstrates his JerkWithAHeartOfGold traits later in the film as his CharacterDevelopment kicks in, Jake is not a very likeable person.

* IdiotPlot: The reason Jake struggles to make it home on time is because he's mugged, dressed up as Santa, and abandoned in the desert with no money or ID. The obvious solution is to just ask someone for help the moment he wakes up. It's not like ''everyone'' at the college could have gone home for the holidays, and even if they had, the police are still around. In fact, just going to the police to explain to them "I got mugged and stranded in the desert with no ID" would probably end the movie in about five minutes.

* TheScrappy: Because Jake is such a big JerkAss and DesignatedHero, you'd be hard pressed to find people who liked the character.

* DesignatedHero: Jake is motivated to go home for Christmas not because he wants to be with his family (which is trying to piece itself back together since his mother died and their father remarried), not to be with his girlfriend, but because he's promised a Porsche if he gets home by Christmas dinner. Not only does he have to be bribed to spend Christmas with his family, but in his efforts to get there he steals from, lies to, and manipulates numerous good-hearted people around him. He's also stuck in the Santa suit because he tried to help three jocks cheat on their final exams, and accepted payment to do so. Yeah, it's hard to root for Jake in this movie.

* DesignatedHero: Jake is motivated to go home for Christmas not because he wants to be with his family (which is trying to piece itself back together since his mother died and their father remarried), not to be with his girlfriend, but because he's promised a Porsche if he gets home by Christmas dinner. Not only does he have to be bribed to spend Christmas with his family, but in his efforts to get there he steals from, lies to, and manipulated the numerous good-hearted people around him. Yeah, it's hard to want Jake to succeed.
* IdiotPlot: The movie's central conflict would be over in a heartbeat if Jake just went back to college and got some help. It's not like ''everyone'' could have gone home for the holidays. And even if they had, the police are still around; they'd at least get Jake out of the Santa suit and let him call Allie or his family, and probably help with the lack of ID problem that keeps him from flying.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Jake; again, the only reason he's going home for Christmas is because his family bribed him with a car, and the central conflict of the film is him making it home on time to get it.

* IdiotPlot: The movie's central conflict would be over in a heartbeat if Jake just went back to college and got some help. It's not like ''everyone'' could have gone home for the holidays. And even if they had, the police are still around; a phone call from the station will probably convince Allie or his family that he needs help.

* FridgeHorror: While Jake was abandoned in the desert by the bullies, and was able to find his way home, his friend Ian was left locked in his own locker over Christmas break by them, meaning that he more than likely starved to death and that the rest of the school will find his rotting corpse when classes start up again in January.

* DesignatedHero: Jake. His motive for the movie is get a ''car'' rather than trying to reconcile with his estranged family. In fact, he tries to impress his girlfriend by claiming he's going to be with his family. What's worse is that he uses other people like his little sister to get him where he wants to go.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The movie's hero is driven to get home not because he wants to be with his family, trying to put itself together after the passing of his mother years before, but because he will given a Porsche if he gets home by the deadline. Not exactly a rooting cause.

* UnintenionallyUnsympathetic: The movie's hero is driven to get home not because he wants to be with his family, trying to put itself together after the passing of his mother years before, but because he will given a Porsche if he gets home by the deadline. Not exactly a rooting cause.

* FridgeHorror: While Jake was abandoned in the desert by the bullies, and was able to find his way home, his friend Ian was left locked in his own locker over Christmas break by them, meaning that he more than likely starved to death and that the rest of the school will find his rotting corpse when classes start up again in January.