There are several Christmas movies that I enjoy watching every year. Some, like How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966), I have watched since childhood and others I didn't see until years later. I only saw A Christmas Story all the way through a few years ago. Since then I have watched it again several times and think of it as one of the movies I want to see each year around Christmas.
All nine-year-old Ralphie Parker wanted for Christmas was a Red Ryder air riffle. Everyone he told thought it would be a bad gift, saying he would shoot out his eye. Ralphie didn't give up hope for getting his dream gift even though it wasn't looking promising. He and his friends had to deal with bullies. His friend Flick was triple dog dared into doing something not so smart involving a flag pole.
Ralphie also had to deal with his not so normal family while he tried to figure out how to convince everyone that the air riffle was a good gift. His younger brother Randy would only eat when their mother called him her little piggy and told him to show her how little piggies eat at the troth. Their father was obsessed with entering contests and adored the gaudy looking lamp he won and insisted on displaying in the middle of the front window. He seemed to get some sort of thrill out of battling the black smoke spewing furnace in the basement.
A Christmas Story was partially based on In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd. The book was a collection of short stories that Shepherd had written for Playboy during the 1960's and were based on events from his childhood. The movie was set in the town of Hammond Indiana but most of the movie was filmed in Cleveland Ohio. A few things were filmed in Ontario Canada as well. Shepherd also wrote the screenplay for the movie and served as the narrator.
Since its release in 1983, A Christmas Story has become a favorite Christmas movie for many people and is even considered a classic Christmas movie by some. I had heard about it before I actually first watched it. The entire movie revolved around Christmas in general and specifically around Ralphie’s desire to get a Red Ryder air riffle for Christmas. Several scenes involved him plotting how he could get the gun. Other issues related to Christmas popped up as well. The entire town was already decorated for the holiday when the movie began. Later in the movie, Ralphie and Randy made a visit to Santa that seemed to be a bit traumatic. The elves working with Santa had surly dispositions and didn’t seem to like children and even Santa didn’t seem that friendly. I thought the Christmas elements worked very well in the movie and made this an entertaining Christmas movie without going overboard with sentiment like some movies have done.
Most of the comedy in A Christmas Story worked well. Many of the laughs came from things connected to the family. Some of the funniest scenes dealt with the unique looking lamp that Mr. Parker won from one of the many contests he entered. He mispronounced fragile and assumed it was from Italy. The look on his wife’s face when saw the lamp was hilarious. I also thought the present Ralphie got from his Aunt Clara was very funny too, though I did wonder why Randy didn’t receive something similar from her. The narrator, who was supposed to be Ralphie as an adult, said many funny things throughout the movie when explaining certain things, like the neighbors and their numerous dogs. I didn’t think Randy acting like a pig during dinner was funny at all. I just found it to be disgusting and it looked like Ralphie and his dad felt the same way.
A Christmas Story was told from the perspective of Ralphie, making him the most developed character. He seemed to be a typical nine-year-old who messed up at times. He was mainly just trying to figure out how he could get the Red Ryder air riffle for Christmas. He had a very active imagination which was illustrated a few different times. Peter Billingsley was really good as Ralphie without making the character whiney or annoying like happens with some child actors. Jean Shepherd served as the narrator who was supposed to be Ralphie as an adult. A few of Ralphie’s friends were around, usually during scenes connected to their school, without too much to do. Flick was probably the most remembered because of the incident with the flag pole.
Randy really didn’t have that much to do. He was usually just around in the background, frequently barely able to move because of all the layers his mother made him wear when he left the house. Really the only time he was featured more was when he acted like a pig during dinner. Ian Petrella was fine in the part. Their parents weren’t identified by any names and I don’t remember them calling each other by their first names either. The family had their issues, but it was clear they loved each other. Mrs. Parker may not have always made the best decisions, like when she made Ralphie sit with soap in his mouth, but she was trying to do what she thought was best. Mr. Parker had his faults too, like how he would swear a blue streak when dealing with the furnace. Melinda Dillon and Darren McGavin were good in the parts.
Main Cast
Peter Billingsley - Ralphie Parker Melinda Dillon - Mrs. Parker Darren McGavin - Mr. Parker Ian Petrella - Randy Parker Scott Schwartz - Flick
Bob Clark - Director
A Christmas Story is available on DVD and I’m sure I’ll pick up a copy eventually. Since I haven’t seen the DVD, I’m not sure what sort of extras, if any, are included on it. The movie has been shown on TBS or TNT for twenty-four straight hours on Christmas Eve for the last few years. I haven’t seen it on any other stations this year.
A Christmas Story has become a very well liked Christmas movie and is even considered a classic by many. I could have done without seeing Randy act like a pig while eating, but other than that, I really enjoyed the movie and find it to be very entertaining overall.
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