Matt O’Connor
We’ve reached Day 8 and the second week of our Christmas Movie Countdown! To kick off week 2, we’ve got another classic Christmas movie that’s really stood the test of time. This film was selected by the Library of Congress to be placed into the National Film Registry due to its holiday significance. Directed by Bob Clark, A Christmas Story really is something else.
The film is formatted quite differently as it’s presented in the form of a series of vignettes. The main vignette follows young Ralphie Parker whose number one Christmas gift happens to be a BB air rifle. Of course, this wish is rejected by almost everyone, including a disgruntled mall Santa. But once Christmas morning rolls around, Ralphie is thrilled to find the gift that he wanted. But while he’s trying it out, he accidentally fires a BB that bounces off a wall and knocks off his glasses. Ralphie then makes up a story about a falling icicle to avoid telling his family the truth .Most of the other vignettes are loosely related to the main plot and follow multiple other characters. Ralphie’s father struggles to fix the household furnace, Ralphie helps his dad change out a dire situation, and his friends Flick and Schwartz argue over whether or not a tongue can actually stick to a flagpole.
Peter Billingsley as Ralphie Parker is definitely the stand out performance here, serving as the central connection between all of the loosely interwoven vignettes. While it isn’t a typical Christmas viewing experience, A Christmas Story still delivers as a timeless holly jolly classic. Week 2 of the Countdown and the Christmas season is full steam ahead!
