A nostalgic sequel for Christmas

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, December 9th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: A Christmas sequel almost 40 years in the making.

Thanks to 24-hour marathon showings on cable channels, watching the movie A Christmas Story has become a holiday tradition for many families.

EICHER: Now a sequel featuring much of the original cast is available on Warner Bros’ streaming service HBO Max. But should you add this movie to your rotation of holiday favorites? Here’s Collin Garbarino.

MUSIC: [We Wish You a Merry Christmas]

COLLIN GARBARINO, REVIEWER: 1983’s A Christmas Story immortalized Ralphie Parker’s quest to acquire a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. Now, in the new film A Christmas Story Christmas, we get to see what kind of man that imaginative 9-year-old grew up to be.

RALPH: Oh, life moves fast. One day you’re playing “kick the can” with kids named Flick and Schwartz. And the next thing you know, you’re paying taxes and pulling out gray hairs.

The movie is set in December 1973, 33 years after the original. Peter Billingsley returns as Ralph Parker, now a middle-aged man living in Chicago with his wife Sandy and their two young children, Mark and Julie.

JULIE: Okay, but what if there’s a fire in the fireplace?

MARK: Santa’s fireproof.

JULIE: What if the fireplace is too small?

MARK: He sneaks in a window.

SANDY: Good morning.

JULIE: Good morning, Mom.

MARK: Morning.

JULIE: What if the window is stuck?

MARK: He has WD-40.

JULIE: What if the window’s too small?

MARK: He sucks in his gut.

SANDY: Hey, get your breakfast.

BOTH: Yes, Mom.

It’s been a lean year for the Parkers. Ralph quit work to write the great American novel. He’s given himself a year to become a successful author, but time and money are running out.

SANDY: Well, there’s still one publisher left.

RALPH: Yeah.

SANDY: Hey, you know, I heard that Mark Twain got rejected 34 times before he got published.

JULIE: That’s brutal.

MARK: Yeah.

SANDY: I just mean you’re in good company.

RALPH: Thanks.

SANDY: But he actually said that you could cut it in half?

RALPH: That’s crazy, right?

SANDY: I mean it is… a little wordy.

A week before Christmas, Ralph gets a call with bad news. His father has passed away, so the family heads back to Hohman, Ind., to spend the holiday with Ralph’s mother in his childhood home.

RALPH: It was my old home. With its light, its colors… its smells. But it was forever changed.

Now that “the old man” is gone, Ralph feels it’s up to him to make Christmas special for everyone. But it’s a lot of pressure for Ralph who’s low on both ideas and resources.

Many of the cast members from the original movie return to their roles for this sequel, though Julie Hagerty replaces Melinda Dillon as Ralph’s mom. Part of the fun comes from seeing Flick, Schwartz, and some of the other kids all grown up. The script does a good job showing how the characters both change and stay the same as they mature.

RALPH: Some things never change. Especially Flick and Schwartz.

SCHWARTZ: Yeah, you’ve got an—

BOTH: Ralphie!

RALPH: Am I glad to see you guys.

SCHWARTZ: The cosmopolitan man returns.

FLICK: Yeah, Mr. Big Shot, gracing us small town folk with his presence.

RALPH: Yeah, come on. I could never forget about you guys. Believe me, I tried.

A Christmas Story Christmas offers a kick of nostalgia. The 1970s details will strike a chord with older viewers. We see patterned wallpapers, classic toys, and unreliable vehicles.

SANDY: Well, what do you guys want for Christmas?

JULIE: An Easy-Bake Oven, Hungry Hungry Hippos, and a stuffed kitty cat.

SANDY: Got it. What about you?

MARK: A Flexible Flyer F-23 Yankee Clipper.

SANDY: And what is that?

MARK: A sled.

SANDY: Oh, okay. I’m sorry.

JULIE: What do you want, Dad?

RALPH: Want? A time machine to restart the year. What I need is a new radiator for the Plymouth.

Keen-eyed fans of the 1983 movie will note callbacks to the original in almost every scene. And similar to the original, Ralph’s voiceover provides a running commentary on the episodic narrative. In a satisfying meta-twist, by the end of A Christmas Story Christmas, this sequel starts to feel like a prequel.

But parents should know this PG movie contains some coarse language on par with the original, and characters consume plenty of alcohol.

Revisiting Hohman has a certain charm, but A Christmas Story Christmas isn’t destined to become a classic. There’s no iconic line like, “You’ll shoot your eye out.” The original’s strength was it conveyed the magic of Christmas through the wide-eyed wonder of childhood. This sequel lacks that sparkle though it does have a few bittersweet scenes of surprising pathos that explore the nature of being both a son and a father.

Ralph: When you’re a kid, all you want is the perfect Christmas gift. 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 in a rare moment of truth. And how we react in these moments can forever seal our fate.

It's a story about a parent who’s desperate to give his children a meaningful Christmas, but the true meaning of Christmas never comes up. The movie does, however, suggest that we can find happiness by celebrating life’s small joys. A Red Ryder BB-gun might be nice, but friends and family are at the heart of this Christmas story.

MUSIC: [We Wish You a Merry Christmas]

I’m Collin Garbarino.

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