It turns out a lot of other kids my age didn't see this film released at their local theaters either. When I looked up on that the film only grossed $71,000 at the time of its release, it didn't surprise me. I was eleven years old when "My Summer Story" (originally released as "It Runs In The Family") came out, and I remember reading about it in a kids magazine but never seeing it get released in my local theater. And if Shepard's narration makes you think "Wonder Years", be aware that "A Christmas Story" used the "adult narrator recalling his youth" device several years before the ABC series came about (wonder where they got the idea!) Very funny, warm hearted, and nostalgic. The Old Man is played by Charles Grodin, whose gruff manor-but at times, joie de vivre-is in the spirit of Darren McGavin, who played that role in ACS while Mom is played by Mary Steenbergen (Back to the Future Pt 3). Here, we get to see Ralphie at a time of year when boys DON'T try to stick their tongues to flagpoles. He was a legendary humorist and radio personality who indirectly inspired "A Boy Named Sue" and whose Christmas tale has become a cult hit thanks to cable TV marathons. The same boy tries to beat the school bully in a "top" competition.an episode of The Simpsons? No-it's the sequel to A Christmas Story: Jean Shepherd's "My Summer Story", aka "It Runs in the Family". It turned out to be a better family comedy than Ollie Hopnoodle's, and one that fans of "A Christmas Story," would probably enjoy.Ī ten year old boy helps his dad in a "war" against hillbilly neighbors, and also finds himself on the way to manhood when Dad takes him fishing, while Mom leads a revolt against the "Ronald-Coleman-gravy-boat-again" Dish Nights at the local theatre. As you'll notice, there's not much going on with Randy Parker (played by Kieran's brother, Christian). And, yet another subplot concerns Ralphie and his dad, and their skilled fishing expedition. Once again, there is a feud between Old Man Parker and the Bumpus's concerning a territorial dispute. Recall in the first movie, it was their dogs who often stormed the Parkers kitchen and spoiled the Christmas turkey. The other subplot involves Ralphie's father (aka The Old Man) and greater insight to their boorish hick neighbors, the Bumpus's. Like a scene from Citizen Kane, the women eventually get together and stage a revolt. The funny part is seeing Ralphie's mother getting annoyed when her husband asks her the stupid question of where all the other celebrity autographed plates were when he was standing in a kitchen full of gravy boats. Each week, they return with the same gravy boat. The funniest and most interesting one involves Ralphie's mother (Mary Steenburgen) and the other local Indiana housewives going to this theater each week, lured by a salesman's promise of getting a full set of autographed celebrity dinnerware. The movie is pretty much a string of subplots, one not really dominating the other. While Ralphie's classmates have failed to beat Lug, the reigning champion, Ralphie is going to prove is worth. The tops battles are apparently symbolic of strength and more appropriate in a family film than physically fighting. So, little Ralphie Parker is engaged in a battle with a new foe, Lug Ditka, who challenges Ralphie to a tops war. There's a bit of that going on here, and makes it a better comedy. Then, he'd have his little day dreams about how his mom got together and plotted to give him a bad grade on his essay about the gun, marking it with large letters that "he'd shoot his eye out." Or how, when his parents often rebuffed his requests for the Christmas present, he daydreamed how he was blind and returns home and his parents grieve about how they should've been nicer to him. That is what made the first movie so enjoyable, this kid getting all psyched out about Christmas and dreaming about his Red Ryder BB gun. Not only is it something younger children can relate to, but they don't have to stick to such strict guidelines of reality, allowing room to delve into fanatasies and imaginations of our narrating protagonist, Ralphie. Though Parker was supposed to be 14 years-old in the second movie, the writers might've felt it to be more entertaining to once again write a story from a young kid's perspective. Kieran Culkin portrays second-grader Ralphie Parker. Of the two sequels to "A Christmas Story," (the other being Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss released in 1987), It Runs in the Family (aka My Summer Story) is the better one.
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