A Christmas Story (1983)

The 1983 "Terms of Endearment" won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Now it was deserved. The film still remains popular today. What's hard to believe now is that "A Christmas Story" (released the same year) was ignored everywhere. If anything it should of been nominated for best adapted screenplay!Now when the film was released it was "Critically Acclaimed" but, MGM failed to capitalized on that. The film was poorly handled & failed to capture a large theatrical audience!Well thanks to the Home Video Market & television this film has now become part of Americana. It also helped that Ted Turner made "24 Hours Of A Christmas Story" an annual event.It is now 2017, and "A Christmas Story" it is now one of the most popular films of all time. Even "Return of the Jedi" ( The Highest Grossing Film of 1983) "Isn't gaining as many new fans". ."Return of the Jedi" has always rode the coattails of the earlier "Star Wars" films. "A Christmas Story" has gained fans for just being a great film!Now my review Set in the 1940's the film makes you identify with Ralphie and you your routing for him in every single way!Ralphie is in elementary school. His has a little brother and all he wants for Christmas is a BB-Gun. He wants this more than anything. Before Christmas gets there he has many obstacles to overcome. One of them is getting home! He & his friends are always being bullied before they can make it home. The film is flawless. It is a joy to watch and only improves every time you watch it. It is also true that for some reason the older it gets the better it becomes! You need to see this. Also there is a fan made documentary called "A Christmas Story Documentary: Road Trip for Ralphie". That is a great fan made documentary.

Charming Christmas tale directed by Bob Clark of "Porkies" (1981) fame (!) about a young boy and his dream of finding a Red Ryder BB gun under the tree on Christmas morning. Shot as an autobiographical 'memory' film, with a voiceover by Jean Shepherd, the story recounts young Ralphie's (Peter Billingsley) 9th Christmas, sometime around 1940. The stories are fun, mostly nice with just a touch of naughty, and include vignettes about the last days of school before holidays, bullies, tongues and cold flagpoles, visiting the department store Santa, and of course, Christmas morning. Peter Billingsley is excellent as Ralphie and the rest of the cast, mostly portraying his family and friends, are fine although Melinda Dillon does not look much like a WWII-era mother. A fun movie, considered a seasonal classic by some, worth watching once, and maybe even once a year.

A Christmas Story has become a festive classic in North America with a lot of subsequent films trying to replicate its success.It follows the nostalgic tinged tale of young Ralphie (as told by his adult self) a schoolboy in 1940s America who wants a BB gun for Christmas which his mum tells him will shoot his eye out. We see Ralphie getting up to pranks with his fellow classmates, being bullied by a rough kid, going to see Santa at the department store and of course his life with his parents and younger brother with tales of his dad winning a prize of a stockinged leg which he uses as a lamp.Darren McGavin looks too old to be their dad. Peter Billingsley brings a lot of charm as the precocious bespectacled Ralphie for whom life never quite turns out as he imagined in his head such as trying to lay hints of what he would like for Christmas.It is whimsical and fun but I would not call it a Christmas classic.

My favorite Christmas film even better than its a wonderful life which I enjoy a lot Warm without being mawkish .IT's based on a book called in god we trust all others pay cash which I didn't really like with the exception of the chapter on which this film is based which was written by jean shepherd who also contributes a witty narration. good performances all round especially peter billingsly as ralphie and the late Darren mcgavin as the father .What really makes this film work though is writer director bob Clark's warm hearted but never over sentimental approach which is the essence of the book and his episodic but still cohesive and humorous script .A few moments in the film may be unsuitable for young children after all bob Clark made porky's as well. But don't let that put you off this is a great treat for all the family. Unfortunately Its not well known this side of the pond unlike America where watching it is as tradiontal as turkey for Christmas dinner a situation which could be rectified by a channel showing it or by it's release on Blu-ray or DVD over here which sad to say is all rather unlikely due to the fact that its more of a interpretation of Christmas more familiar to Americans than us but we this side of the pond should enjoy Its available as either a us DVD or Blu-ray import It's sure to put you in the festive mood but most of all it's very funny .I highly recommend it.