Charming with a surprising emotional punch The original film underwent a fascinating journey just to exist as we know it today. It started life as a series of stories told on a radio show by Jean Shepherd. A friend of his thought that the stories were so good that they should be put into a book and spread to a wider audience. Shepherd wasn't sure how well this would work but did it nevertheless. The books were successful, so much so that a producer reached out to Shepherd in the interest of making a Christmas movie based off of some these stories. Shepherd ran with the idea and, after encountering a few hurdles, he released the film we know as A Christmas Story. It flopped, which is hard to imagine now but, like It's a Wonderful Life, it gained a second wind thanks to television replays over the next few decades. It has its issues (most notably the scene at the end in the Chinese restaurant) but it's still a rightfully beloved classic to this day. It stays with people because of how it portrays middle class family life and childhood at Christmas in the Rust Belt. It hits the right notes not only with the trials of living such an existence but also the warmth that comes from having the rare gift of a close family.
A few attempts have been made over the years to piggyback off of the success of the film, including by Shepherd himself, but they're all either virtually unknown or disliked across the board by those who do know them. With all that said, I was worried for this movie. It means a lot to me since my childhood was a lot like Ralphie's, albeit some four or five decades later. My family didn't have much but each other and was founded in the end of the Rust Belt that reaches into Western New York. I also schemed to get the gift I wanted every year, though without the kind of success that Ralphie had in the film. I went into it with no small amount of trepidation but I'm really pleased with the end result. Peter Billingsly reprises his iconic role as Ralphie, now middle aged and muddling through the '70s with his wife and two kids. Ralphie is frustrated as he's trying to break into the writing game, but nobody is going for his lengthy sci-fi treatises. He's running out of time on a self-imposed deadline but has to put that aside when he hears the news that the Old Man has passed away. He and his family expedite their yearly trip to visit Ralphie's parents to that same day and as Ralphie tries to comfort his mother, she gently rebuffs this and instead insists that Ralphie help her come up with a Christmas worthy of the Old Man. This sends Ralphie into a series of hijinks that help him reconnect with his past through both old friends and enemies. It's absolutely charming and the writers did a great job handling the heavier subject matter featured in this script. There are a few flaws, though.
The biggest one is that it relies just a little too much on the original film. The heart and vision of the writers and director is clear here and I feel that could have played it a little less safe, especially as the portions that didn't based themselves off the previous film feel like they came right from the pen of Jean Shepherd himself. Actually now that I think about it that was really my only complaint. Now on to the stand-out positives. First, full credit to the actress who they got for Ralphie's mom. It's sad that the original Mr. And Mrs. Parker have passed away in real life, but Julie Hagerty did an admirable job taking on the role. It was wise to not try and recast the Old Man because, as those forgotten sequels have proven, only one guy has ever gotten it right. The next big one was the sense of continuity. As I mentioned, they set the film almost 40 years after the original and the designers really nailed the little touches of middle class living in the '70s. My last big one was the kids. The actor and actress really seemed to understand what film they were in and brought the right energy and an excellent sense of comedic timing. The cast was great in general, but the kids and Peter Billingsly really ran away with the thing.
It's not perfect. Neither was the original, though it's a lot closer than this film is, but that's not to say that it's bad by any means. It really brings the heart and charm of the original film and Shepherd's works. If you're on the fence, please give it a try. It's worth it.