A Christmas Story

Bob Clark's A Christmas Story (1983) is a wonderful holiday film. A pleasant, believable depiction of childhood through the eyes of a precocious little boy, its charm is its simplicity: it's an unpretentious bit of entertainment, depicting childhood wonder without any pretension or thematic baggage. A story of family in simpler times, it has a universal appeal and charm that makes it compulsively watchable.

Based on writings by Jean Shepherd, the film's episodic narrative follows the adventures of Ralphie (Peter Billingsley), a bespectacled, daydreaming little boy who wants nothing more than to get a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. The problem is convincing his parents (Melinda Dillon and Darren McGavin) that the gun is a suitable toy for an eight-year-old, and that he won't "shoot his eye out". Ralphie also deals with his parents' war over an electric leg lamp, a crabby Santa Claus (Jeff Gillen), problems with school bully Scut Farkis (Zack Ward), the neighbor's mischevious dogs, and a Little Orphan Annie contest.

Christmas trappings aside, A Christmas Story is a wonderful little slice-of-life film seen through the eyes of an eight-year old. The movie remains believable throughout, even in its occasionally bizarre and outlandish moments; the characters are wonderfully sketched, loveable even in their eccentricities. Director Clark handles most scenes as self-contained set-pieces - the encounters with the bully, friend Flick (Scott Schwarz) licking a frozen flag poll, the arguments over the lamp, Ralphie's disastrous experiment with cursing, dinner at a Chinese place - which stand alone as wonderful comic gems in their own right. Added together, they create a wonderful patchwork of small-town Americana, both funny and relatable. Although Ralphie becomes disillusioned with certain childhood tropes - Santa Claus, the Little Orphan Annie decoder pin, and even his present - the movie is not a coming-of-age film with the usual trappings about lost innocence. Rather, it's a celebration of childhood and a by-gone era, and works wonderfully as both.

Peter Billingsley is perfect as Ralphie, likeable, precocious, funny and just self-aware enough without seeming snarky. The rest of the kid cast - Ian Petrella, R.D. Robb, Scott Schwarz, Zack Ward - handle themselves equally well, creating unusually authentic child characters. Darren McGavin and Melinda Dillon are hysterical as Ralphie's parents; Tedde Moore and Jeff Gillen standout in smaller parts. Jean Shepherd's hysterical narration adds immeasuribly to the film, putting us in the properly cynical yet nostalgic frame of mind.

A Christmas Story remains a charming little film, and with the possible exception of It's a Wonderful Life, is the greatest Christmas film of all time.