November 4, 2008 - Few Christmas movies have the rabid devotion of A Christmas Story. Based in part on Jean Shepherd's book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, the movie wasn't a big hit initially, but has progressively grown in popularity since its theatrical release in 1983. Despite all the various choices in holiday movies, the TNT Network plays only one movie for 24 hours on Christmas Eve and this is it.

Back in 2003, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the film, Warner decided to go back and double-dip, improving on the barebones edition in just about every way possible. Now that the film is reaching its 25th anniversary, there's a triple-dip collector's edition that's full of holiday cheer, although there's been no change to the actual discs inside at all.


Shepherd himself narrates the nostalgic story of his fictionalized alter-ego, Ralphie Parker. It's Christmas season in suburban Indiana, and all little Ralphie wants for Christmas is a Red-Ryder BB rifle. He leaves hints for his parents, he writes essays about it for class, he even asks the mall Santa. Of course, the adults in his life, including Santa Claus, are convinced that it will shoot his eye out.

But that's just a summary of Ralphie's ultimate goal. A Christmas Story is actually a bit of a misleading title. The movie is really a series of loosely connected vignettes (taken mostly from the book) that tie together some overall themes about the holiday season from the perspective of a child. It's a treasure chest of familiar moments that almost every kid -- even those who don't celebrate Christmas -- can relate to, and pinpoints a moment in time when Christmas first started morphing into the commercialized marketing blitz it is today. That sense of disillusionment is perfectly crystallized in the moment when Ralphie excitedly decodes a secret message over the radio with his Little Orphan Annie decoder ring, only to discover a "crummy commercial" urging him to drink his Ovaltine.

The film also deals with family amazingly well. No one is perfect. Ralphie's father, known only as The Old Man (and played by the always great Darren McGavin), may be a swearing, threatening menace, but he's also a sentimental teddy bear who wants to see his family happy on Christmas. Mom (Melinda Dillon) may seem like a nice lady trying to raise a family, but when a threat in the form of a sexy leg lamp appears, she proves that she's no pushover. The way they all interact as a family is both entertaining and realistic. None of their interactions seem forced.

Best of all, it's just a story of a kid's Christmas. There is no big spiritual redemption, no one has to learn a lesson. In the end, the film seems to say that there's no such thing as a perfect holiday, but that doesn't matter; what's really important is being with family, creating lasting memories and establishing traditions (like watching A Christmas Story at least once during the holiday season).

Score: 9 out of 10