A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983)

A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983)

Tagline: A Tribute to the Original, Traditional, One-Hundred-Percent, Red-Blooded, Two-Fisted, All-American Christmas...

(Family, Comedy, You Will Shoot Your Eye Out) [PG]

Only I didn't say "Fudge." I said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the "F-dash-dash-dash" word!

This movie centers around Ralphie Parker and his relentless quest to get a Red Ryder Range 200 Shot BB gun for Christmas in the 1940s. Through the use of expertly crafted narration, the childish antics of his friends, the guidance and drama of his parents, and the risk of shooting his eye out brace yourselves for A CHRISTMAS STORY like no other. 

When I think back to growing up, one of my favorite things to do was go to the movies with my mom. We were pretty poor, so it was always the cheapest theater and always after most of my friends had seen it a month or two earlier, but it was still pretty great. A CHRISTMAS STORY was one of those movies. Jean Shepherd’s narration was almost therapeutic in the years that followed and A CHRISTMAS STORY pretty much because of Christmas tradition at our house when the ’90s rolled around and at least one major network seemed to have this thing on TV on a loop every year. 

I didn’t grow up in the ’40s, I was actually 7 when the 80’s started, but I could identify with nearly everything in this movie and I think that is why to this day it’s considered “timeless”. This is not to say that this movie doesn’t come across in some scenes as a sucker punch to the more sensitive natures of today’s youth and maybe even their helicopter “I am your best friend” parents. I owned one BB gun growing up, so I know what it’s like to shoot one, but can confidently say I never shot my eye out. Most of my friends were packing even in high school with real guns and it wasn’t uncommon for most of the people that had trucks to have gun racks in them with 2 to 4 riffles in tow. 

What I didn’t have was snow. I think what made this movie so interesting for me aside from the overall story was the fact that it takes place in a foreign land where it snowed on Christmas. In Phoenix, you just were not getting that and for most of my childhood we couldn’t afford a car, so there was no driving up north to see. The northern city and suburbs were kind of spellbinding in a way and you start laying in how likable or at least relatable these characters were. It all equated to cinematic gold. 

Acting wise Darren McGavin (BILLY MADISON) is freakin brilliant as “The Old Man”. Peter Billingsley (DEATH VALLEY) as Ralphie Parker proved to be one of the least annoying child actors of a generation. I also thought Melinda Dillon crushed it as “Mother”, but the rest of the cast was all pretty amazing also. 

Aside from the delightful and cheery score, we also had some pretty decent flashback scenes, and the lighting aesthetic was near perfect for this type of film. In fact, the movie's narrative style was copied in several other shows, namely THE WONDER YEARS. It’s kind of cool when a really simplistic but entertaining story can garner such a massive positive impact almost 40 years after its release. 

Having said all that and even throwing in a heavy dose of nostalgia, I don’t know if this is my favorite Christmas movie ever. It’s way up there in the TOP 5, but it’s definitely a lot of fun even for those who maybe never saw it in a non-reclining theater seat staring over some dude’s head with a giant wad of bubble gun stuck to their shoes and the smell of popcorn permeating through the lobby. 

 I give A CHRISTMAS STORY a 7 out of 7. There isn’t a time when this comes on that I don’t get sucked right into it with my mind subconsciously repeating the lines before the cast delivers them.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER (MGM) AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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