A Christmas Story Christmas (2022)

 A Christmas Story Christmas (2022)

 7/10

 

Starring

Peter Billingsley

Erinn Hayes

Scott Schwartz

R. D. Robb

 

Directed by Clay Kaytis

 

I grew up like many people watching A Christmas Story, but at no point, either as a child or as an adult, did I like the film. I felt it was overrated, but this sequel really hit the spot for me. I think what made it more interesting was being able to link moments in the movie to times in the original and seeing a lot of the old crew reprise their roles.

I liked the movie’s idea of showing how this led to A Christmas Story, and how the message about how easy things always are when you're not the one in charge of making sure it goes smoothly really resonated with me.

If you ever wanted to see how the lives of many of the old cast members turned out and how some others were able to settle their past conflicts, this movie does that.

The plot is again focused on Ralph and a Christmas dream. Ralph wanted to be a writer and has completed his first book, which didn’t exactly have publishing houses rushing to develop it into print. But Ralph was not one to be discouraged. He had it all planned out—he would work on his book, use the savings he and his wife had to care for the family while waiting for the check to come in when his book got picked up by a publishing company.

It was Christmas time, and he didn’t have to worry. Ever since starting his own family, the Christmas tradition has been that his Old Man and his mum travel to his home in Chicago. The Old Man has always done this, and every Christmas since the tradition started has been a memorable one.

When it was time for his parents to arrive, the call was not a good one. His mum called to inform him that his father (the Old Man) had passed. Ralph now had to go to Indiana (his hometown where the movie A Christmas Story takes place) with his family to be with his mum, and now he had to be the one to plan a memorable Christmas—something his father had been able to do (according to him) effortlessly.

In the end, as you’d expect from a good Christmas movie, everything worked out for Ralph and his family. There was no magic at the end, just the normal Christmas miracle of everyone in the family either planning or doing what they could to make sure their loved ones had a memorable Christmas, and something they wanted was waiting under the tree.

The movie was released on HBO Max. I don’t think this will get a theatrical run, but I think, for the way it was done, it could do well.