Review of A Christmas Story (1983) by Luke T — 04 Jan 2011

A Christmas Story.

Humorously adult, but genuinely childish.

I gotta start with the highlights, which are easily the Ralphie dream sequences. These are totally classic "It was, it was... soap poisoning!" I love how this movie constantly brings the audience into the mind of a child, but through the perspective of his adult self.

A Christmas Story also cleverly draws attention to those holiday moments every kid can relate to (I don't care who it's from, I'm not wearing pink buddy PJs), the moments we dreaded. It hits some great marks, like the ignorant easily-gets-sent-over-the-edge dad, the oversensitive mom, the annoying little bro. Lots of fun.

Why 80%?

Because while it's all that and a bag of gingerbread men, it's actually a bit sad and gets pretty dark. The "piggy" eating is enough to make this movie rotten, but there are so many classic/quotable moments it's easily redeemed to the Christmas favorites list.

Extra: I recently read a "Christmas Story, where are they now?" article, and a lot of these guys, sadly, have gone down the drain. Surprising? It's hard to say.