Reviewed by: Joe

Directed by: Bob Clark

Produced by: Bob Clark & Rene Dupont

Cast: Peter Billingsley, Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon, Ian Petrella, & Scott Schwartz

Released: 1984

Comedy Deliciously warped and winsome boyhood memories of Christmas are told by a typical American man revisiting his native Indiana during the 1940s. Among other childish pursuits, his overriding obsession to finally own a genuine Red Ryder BB gun consumes his feverish imagination. Based on Jean Shepherd's novel, "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash."

Can the Christmas season be fully complete without at least one viewing of A Christmas Story? You can try but all bets are that even the “Grinchiest” person can’t escape the irresistible personality of this yuletide comedy. There are so many wonderful things going for this film that it is hard to pick out the flaws. If anything, the last portion of A Christmas Story tends to drag a little bit near the end unlike earlier parts where actions were performed in a much quicker pace. In a way like Christmas Vacation, many of the elements within A Christmas Story connect with someone at one point or another based on their own Christmas experiences with their family.

Though some would not like to admit some of the more embarrassing memories (aka looking like a pink nightmare on Christmas morning), we can all relate to young Ralphie’s blight of getting the perfect Christmas gift when we were his age. But in the end, we realize that family, no matter how embarrassing or bumbling they may be, is what is the most important during the holidays. That is one memory that we should always keep close to our hearts no matter what time of the year.