A Christmas Story (1983)
Grade: 81
Back in December, the cable station TNT showed "A Christmas Story" twelve consecutive times. The film has become the most televised Christmas movie, relegating "It's a Wonderful Life" to benchwarmer status.
It is a story of about one month of Ralphie's life. Ralphie is a boy, about nine years old, growing up in a middle class neighborhood during the (late?) 1930s. He dreams of getting a BB gun for Christmas, waits anxiously for his Little Orphan Annie package to arrive in the mail, and suffers indignities at the hands of the local bully. The narrator is Ralphie grown up, and his nostalgic and whimsical (but never patronizing) comments bring across what it feels like to be a kid. My favorite narrated line is "getting ready for school was like preparing for deep sea diving", delivered as the kid brother is weighed down by layers of winter clothing.
Darren McGavin plays Ralphie's father. His character is excitable and gregarious, and he plays it so winningly that you forget that he is old enough to be Ralphie's grandfather.
Why is "A Christmas Story" so popular? Because it's funny! It is a rare comedy in which nearly all the scenes work, and repeated viewings only add to the fun, since one catches things that were missed the first time around. For example, before the mother sets out to "accidently" break father's ridiculous leg lamp, she has a knowing look on her face and has waited until father is distracted by fighting the wheezing furnace. And when father whispers to mother the shocking obscenity that Ralphie had just uttered, his young brother leans forward to overhear with a huge grin on his face.
There is a department store Santa who definitely does not have the Christmas spirit, and his elf helpers are even more surly than he is. One of the most intimidating Santas in film history, it is no wonder that kids start crying as soon as they are dragged by elf helpers to his lap. Great stuff.
Only a few minor criticisms. A joke about the word 'fragile' doesn't come off. Also, the film may have been secretly funded by the milk lobby, as many kitchen scenes feature a large, full milk bottle, and then there's the decoder ring secret...
kollers@shell.mpsi.net http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html
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