Review: ‘A Christmas Story Christmas,’ starring Peter Billingsley, Erinn Hayes, River Drosche, Julianna Layne, Julie Hagerty, Scott Schwartz and RD Robb

December 25, 2022

by Carla Hay

Pictured clockwise, from upper left: Peter Billingsley, Julie Hagerty, Erinn Hayes, Julianna Lane and River Drosche in “A Christmas Story Christmas” (Photo by Yana Blajeva/Warner Bros. Pictures/HBO Max)

“A Christmas Story Christmas”

Directed by Clay Kaytis

Culture Representation: Taking place in 1973, in Hohman, Indiana, and briefly in Chicago, the comedy film “A Christmas Story Christmas” (a sequel to the 1983 comedy film “A Christmas Story”) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with few African Americans) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Ralph Parker, his wife and their two children go back to his hometown for the Christmas holiday after his father dies, and he feels the pressure of taking over as the family’s Christmas patriarch and fulfilling his dream to become a published writer by the end of the year. 

Culture Audience: “A Christmas Story Christmas” will appeal primarily to fans of “A Christmas Story” and heartwarmng comedies about families during the Christmas season.

Scott Schwartz, Peter Billingsley and RD Robb in “A Christmas Story Christmas” (Photo by Yana Blajeva/Warner Bros. Pictures/HBO Max)

The very thin plot of “A Christmas Story Christmas” gets a considerable boost by its effective use of familiar Christmas movie formulas and relatable characters. It’s a sweet and sentimental sequel that lacks the rebellious spark of 1983’s “A Christmas Story,” but still has enough charm, despite some awkward handling of serious issues. Ralph Parker (formerly known as Ralphie Parker) now has a midlife crisis and grief over the death of his father.

“A Christmas Story” is based on Jean Shepherd’s 1966 semi-autobiographical collection of short stories “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash.” “A Christmas Story” was told from the perspective of 9-year-old Ralphie Parker (played by Peter Billingsley) in 1940, with hindsight voiceover narration by Shepherd in the role of the adult Ralph. Most movie fans know that “A Christmas Story” has become one of the most beloved American Christmas movies of all time, with its most memorable aspect being Ralphie’s obsession to get a BB gun for Christmas—specifically, a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle—despite his parents’ objections to Ralphie getting this toy rifle as a gift.

A very inferior direct-to-video 2012 sequel called “A Christmas Story 2” featured a teenage Ralphie (played by Braeden Lemasters) and had the same main characters but played by entirely different cast members. “A Christmas Story Christmas” can be considered a true sequel to “A Christmas Story,” since it reunites several of the original cast members, led by Billingsley reprising his role as Ralph. Clay Kaytis directed “A Christmas Story Christmas” and wrote the movie’s screenplay with Nick Schenk.

It’s not necessary to watch or know about “A Christmas Story” before seeing “A Christmas Story Christmas” (which has some brief flashbacks to the first movie), but it does help to bring a deeper understanding of why Ralph has been hit so hard emotionally by the unexpected death of his father. Just like in “A Christmas Story,” adult Ralph (played by Billingsley) provides voiceover narration. But instead of looking back on his childhood, Ralph is commenting on his current life as a 42-year-old aspiring writer in 1973.

“A Christmas Story Christmas” has some simplistic and hokey dialogue that is par for the course for a typical Christmas movie. In the movie’s opening scene, which offers a panoramic view of the inside of Ralph’s modest house in Chicago, he can be heard making this comment in a voiceover: “When you’re a kid, all you want is the perfect Christmas. When you’re a parent, all you want is for Christmas to be perfect. But sometimes, if we’re lucky, the yuletide stars shine full upon us ina rare moment of truth. And how we act in those moments can forever seal our fate.”

Viewers soon find out that Ralph has quit an unnamed day job to spend an unspecified period of time trying to write what he hopes will be his Great American Novel. He’s been working on a science-fiction book called “Neptune’s Oblivion.” Ralph and his supportive wife Sandy (played by Erinn Hayes) came to this agreement: “I had to be published by the end of the year, or I’d pack up my dream and return to the rat race.” When the story begins, it’s mid-way through December 1973, and he still hasn’t been published.

“A Christmas Story Christmas” skimps on details about how Ralph and Sandy are paying their bills during the time that Ralph has been working full-time on his novel. It’s not mentioned if Sandy works outside the home. It’s not mentioned if Ralph and Sandy have been living off of their savings. But what the movie does mention repeatedly is that money is so tight for this couple, they sometimes run out of food and can’t afford to replace the faulty radiator for Ralph’s 1966 Plymouth.

Ralph and Sandy have two children: fun-loving son Mark (played by River Drosche), who’s 10 or 11 years old, and precocious daughter Julie (played by Julianna Layne), who’s about 7 or 8 years old. Sandy and Ralph try to hide their money problems from their children, in order not to worry the kids. An early scene in the movie shows that the family has run out of milk, so Ralph tries to convince the children that it will be fun to eat their Cocoa Puffs cereal with orange juice instead of milk. The kids are predictably disgusted.

Ralph has sent his 2,000-page manuscript for “Neptune’s Oblivion” to 16 book publishers. Out of those 16 publishers, 14 have rejected the manuscript so far. Ralph meets an executive (played by Ian Porter) at one of the last two book publishers that haven’t given him a response yet. The executive tells Ralph that his manuscript is rejected because it’s too long and not the kind of book the company is looking for right now.

After getting this bad news, a dejected Ralph goes home and gets a phone call with even worse news: His father has suddenly died. (The cause of death is not mentioned in the story.) Just as he does in “A Christmas Story,” Ralph affectionately calls his father “The Old Man.” n real life, Darren McGavin, who had the role of Ralphie’s father in A” Christmas Story,” died in 2006, at the age of 83.

Ralph’s parents had been planning to go to Chicago for the Christmas holiday to spend time with Ralph and his family. But now, Ralph and his family must go to his hometown of Hohman, Indiana, to spend the Christmas holiday with Ralph’s widowed mother (played by Julie Hagerty), who doesn’t have a first name in the movie. Hagerty replaces Melinda Dillon, who had the role of Ralphie’s mother in “A Christmas Story.”

The rest of “A Christmas Story Christmas” involves subplots that are variations of Ralph trying not to feel like a failure when he goes back to Hohman. His father was the family’s “Mr. Christmas” patriarch, who led the way in the family’s Christmas activities. Now that his father has died, Ralph feels it’s a huge void that Ralph can’t possibly fill.

However, Ralph’s mother makes Ralph promise that he will take over the patriarch role to make sure that the family’s Christmas holidays are as happy as possible, even this year, when the family is grieving over the loss of Ralph’s father. She also asks Ralph to write the obituary for Ralph’s father for the local newspaper. Meanwhile, Ralph is stressed-out over whether or not he and Sandy can afford to get the gifts that their kids want for Christmas. And time is running out on the deadline for him to become a published writer.

“A Christmas Story Christmas” features the return of “A Christmas Story” characters Flick (played by Scott Schwartz) and Schwartz (played by RD Robb), who were Ralph’s childhood friends. Flick is now the owner of a pub called Flick’s Tavern, while Schwartz is a barfly who lives with his mother, is frequently unemployed, and has run up a Flick’s Tavern bar tab that no one expects him to pay. A running joke in the movie is that some of the male customers go to Flick’s Tavern to avoid going home to their wives. And when these wives call the tavern to ask if their husbands are there, Flick or someone else always lies and says that these husbands aren’t there.

Most of the characters outside of the Parker Family, Flick and Schwartz don’t have much of an impact on the story. Larry Novack (played by some Henry Miller), a disheveled regular customer at Flick’s Tavern, is described as former classmate from high school, where he used to be a football star. Delbert Bumpus (played by Davis Murphy), who’s about 11 or 12 years old, is described as “the smartest member of the hillbilly family next door” to where Ralph’s mother lives. Delbert is a somewhat bratty kid whose other family members are never seen in the movie.

Zack Ward reprises his Scut Farkus role from “A Christmas Story,” in a cameo that lasts for less than 5 minutes. Scut’s current occupation is revealed. Viewers of “A Christmas Story Christmas” will get to see if Scut is still a bully or not. Also making a quick cameo is returning cast member Ian Petrella, as Ralph’s young brother Randy Parker, who is now a successful businessman who travels around the world.

Speaking of bullies, “A Christmas Story Christmas” has two unnamed adolescents (played by Cailean Galloway and Alistair Galloway) repeatedly wreaking havoc in the snow by driving snowmobiles and plowing into snowmen made by Mark and Julie outside the house of Ralph’s mother. And it wouldn’t be “A Christmas Story” movie if it didn’t have Christmas shopping and a visit to Santa Claus at Higbee’s, the biggest department store in Hohman.

Most of the scenarios in “A Christmas Story Christmas” aren’t suspenseful but they bring some laughs (and some cringes) in how the adult Ralph and his family members handle some of these situations. There are some quirky moments, such as when Ralph and his mother reveal that they have an irrational fear/dislike of Christmas carolers who go door-to-door, but Sandy feels the opposite way. Sandy is also an ice skating enthusiast. You can easily predict what happens when someone goes ice skating in a comedy film.

Some of the acting is a little stiff, but “A Christmas Story Christmas” is so good-natured the weaker elements of the story do not ruin the movie. Billingsley does a perfectly fine job in the lead role of Ralph, while Drosche and Lane have some cute moments as Mark and Julie. None of the cast members is terrible in these roles, but no one truly stands out as a breakout star either.

“A Christmas Story Christmas” is a pleasant movie that hits all the expected beats of a Christmas film that was made to appeal to a family-friendly audience. Because “A Christmas Story Christmas” is told from an adult character’s perspective, Christmas takes on a more serious meaning than just childhood pranks and wanting a certain toy for Christmas. “A Christmas Story Christmas” is still very much a comedy, but it has more maturity in this likable sequel story where its merits outweigh its flaws.

HBO Max premiered “A Christmas Story Christmas” on November 17, 2022.

Christmas 2018: Holiday-themed movies in theaters

December 1, 2018

by Carla Hay

There are numerous Christmas-themed movies available to watch on TV, computers or mobile devices, but for Christmas 2018, there are a select number of these movies that will be released in theaters in December.  Christmas-themed movies released before December 2018 that should still be in theaters during the Halloween season include “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch” and “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.” Here are the movies that have a December 2018 release:

Information in this article is about U.S. releases.

SPECIAL RE-RELEASES

“Bolshoi Ballet: The Nutcracker 2018”

“The Nutcracker,” the ultimate Christmas ballet, will get a big-screen showcase when the Bolshoi Ballet performs it on December 23. Fathom Events will present the show in cinemas later that day. More information and ticket purchases can be found here.

 

“A Christmas Story”

Based on the writings of Jean Shepherd, the 1983 comedy “A Christmas Story,” directed by Bob Clark, has been a classic staple of holiday TV viewing for decades, but Regal Cinemas will be giving people a chance to see the movie in theaters on December 8, while Alamo Drafthouse will have the movie at various dates and locations in December. The movie, which is rated PG, stars Peter Billingsley as the 9-year-old hapless kid Ralphie Parker, who dreams of getting his ideal Christmas gift: a Red Ryder Carbine Action Air Rifle.

“Die Hard”

The 1988 movie that made Bruce Willis a mega-star is also considered the most famous action Christmas movie. In “Die Hard,” directed by John McTiernan, Willis plays cop John McClane, who battles terrorists who have taken an office Christmas party hostage. Alamo Drafthouse is having screenings of “Die Hard,” which is rated R, at various times and locations in December.

“Elf”

In this 2003 blockbuster comedy, Will Ferrell plays Buddy, a child-like man who was accidentally left on the North Pole as an infant and raised by elves. When Buddy discovers that he is a human, not an elf, he travels to New York in search of his biological father (played by James Caan), who is a cold-hearted businessman. “Elf,” which is rated PG, was directed by Jon Favreau, who has a role in the movie. The cast also includes Zooey Deschanel and Bob Newhart.  Alamo Drafthouse and iPic Theaters will have “Elf” on various dates in December, while Regal Cinemas is bringing back “Elf” on December 22. Marcus Theatres will have the film at various times and locations from November 30 to December 6.

“Jim Henson’s Holiday Special”

Two of the late Jim Henson’s beloved specials have been remastered and are coming to the big screen: “Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas” and “The Bells of Fraggle Rock.” The event includes an all-new featurette with a special guest. Fathom Events is presenting “Jim Henson’s Holiday Special” in theaters on December 10 and December 16. More information and ticket purchases can be found here.

“The Holiday”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhLVOrUYCjI

In this Nancy Meyers-directed 2006 romantic comedy, two lovelorn women— meek Iris Simpkins (played by Kate Winslet) and workaholic Amanda Woods (played by Cameron Diaz)—decide to temporarily swap their homes during the Christmas holiday season. Iris’ home is in England, while Amanda’s home is in Los Angeles. While at each other’s homes, Iris meets Miles Dumont (played by Jack Black) who is the assistant of Amanda’s ex-boyfriend. Meanwhile, Amanda meets Iris’ brother Graham (played by Jude Law). Naturally, unexpected romantic sparks fly, but will these new couples survive the reality that each partner lives in another country? Alamo Drafthouse is having screenings of “The Holiday,” which is rated PG-13, at various times and locations in December.

“Home Alone”

Macualey Culkin’s most famous movie is one of the most beloved Christmas movies that appeals to many generations of people. In the 1990 comedy, directed by Chris Columbus, Culkin plays 8-year-old Kevin McCallister, who is accidentally left behind at home when his family goes on a Christmas vacation to Paris. When two burglars (played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) break into the house, it’s up to Kevin to defend himself and the family home. Alamo Drafthouse is having screenings of “Home Alone,” which is rated PG, at various times and locations in December. Marcus Theatres will have the film at various times and locations from November 30 to December 6.

“Love Actually”

This 2003 British romantic comedy directed by Richard Curtis is considered a modern classic. With an all-star cast that includes Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson and Emma Thompson, “Love Actually” tells the story of people looking for love during Christmas and who are more connected to each than it would seem at first glance. Alamo Drafthouse is bringing back “Love Actually,” which is rated R, at various times and locations throughout the month of December. Everyone who buys a ticket for the movie will automatically be entered into a sweepstakes in which the winner will get a trip for two to Las Vegas to see Mariah Carey’s show at the MGM Grand and get a meet-and-greet experience with Carey. More information and ticket purchases can be found here.

It’s a Wonderful Life”

Directed by Frank Capra and starring James Stewart and Donna Reed, the 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life” is widely considered the ultimate American Christmas movie classic. The plot is simple but told with an effective tone: During the Christmas season, an angel helps a suicidal family man by showing him what life would have been like if he never existed. Marcus Theatres will have the film at various times and locations from November 30 to December 6. Gathr is presenting the film at various cinema chains, including AMC and Regal, on December 18 and December 19. Bowtie Cinemas is bringing back “It’s a Wonderful Life,” which is rated PG, from December 21 to December 27.

“Miracle at 34th Street”

In this 1947 classic Christmas story directed by George Seaton, a young lawyer (played y John Payne) defends a man (played by Edmund Gwenn) who has been placed in a psychiatric institution after claiming to be Kris Kringle, also known as Santa Claus. “Miracle at 34th Street,” which is not rated, also stars Maureen O’Hara and Natalie Wood. Marcus Theatres will have the film at various times and locations from December 7 to December 14. Bowtie Cinemas is bringing back “Miracle at 34th Street” from December 8 to December 16.

“National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”

The Griswold family continues to have mishaps and hi-jinks in this PG-13-rated holiday sequel that was originally released in 1989. Directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” doesn’t follow the family on a trip but instead shows what happens when the Griswolds stay home and their wacky relatives come to visit. The movie’s cast includes Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid and Juliette Lewis. The Cinépolis theater chain is showing “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” on December 4, while Regal Cinemas will have the movie on December 15. Alamo Drafthouse is showing the movie at various times and locations in December. Marcus Theatres will have the film at various times and locations from December 7 to December 13.

“The Polar Express”

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the 2004 adventure film “The Polar Express” was an early pioneer of motion-capture visual effects. In the movie, a young boy (portrayed by Daryl Sabara) embarks on a magical journey to the North Pole on the Polar Express. Tom Hanks portrays the train’s conductor.  Regal Cinemas is bringing back “The Polar Express,” which is rated G, on December 1.  Marcus Theatres will have the film at various times and locations from December 7 to December 13.

“White Christmas”

This 1954 classic musical is about singers Bob Wallace (played by Bing Crosby) and Phil Davis (played by Danny Kaye), who team up with sister act Betty Haynes (played by Rosemary Clooney) and Judy Haynes (played by Vera-Ellen) to perform a Christmas show in rural Vermont. When the men find out that their former World War II commander, Gen. Waverly (played Dean Jagger), is in danger of losing his country inn, they all team up to put on a show that will help him with his financial problems. “White Christmas” was directed by Michael Curtiz with music by Irving Berlin. In partnership with the TCM cable network, Fathom Events is presenting “White Christmas” in theaters on December 9 and December 12, with exclusive insight from Turner Classic Movies. More information and ticket purchases can be found here.

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