movie review

Every year during the holidays my family and I gather around a TV and pop in our old beat up tape of A Christmas Story. We used to watch other Christmas movies like It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street, but A Christmas Story is the only one that hasn’t gotten old. There is just something about it that gets us every time. The movie is about Ralphie Parker, a nine-year-old boy, who wants an “Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle” for Christmas but is continually told by adults that he will shoot his eye out. That in itself is pretty brilliant. But, the plot isn’t the only thing that makes this movie a classic. Every character has something special they bring to the story. Ralphie’s Old Man is a good example. At one point in the movie Ralphie states, “Some men are Baptists, others Catholics, my father was an Oldsmobile man.” But that’s not all; he also is addicted to crossword puzzles, has an ongoing battle with their furnace and has quite the vocabulary. But Mr. Parker isn’t the only oddball in the film. Every character seems to be a little off, even the tiny, insignificant ones. While Ralphie and his brother Randy are waiting in line to see Santa, the end up waiting next to a bizarre kid with flying goggles over his eyes and a creepy smile plastered on his face who is constantly expressing his love for Santa Clause and The Wizard of Oz. The little anecdotes throughout the movie also help make it what it is. Like Ralphie’s various encounters with Scut Farkus, the bully or his friend Flick getting his tongue stuck to a flag pole. All in all A Christmas Story is a classic film that can really be enjoyed all year round.