A Christmas Story
- Review Date: May 19, 2003
- Rated: PG
- Genre: Family and Kids
- Release Year: 1983
- Running Time: 98 minutes
Common Sense Media says
Wonderful antidote to cutesy holiday tales; some swearing.
- Review Date: May 19, 2003
- Rated: PG
- Genre: Family and Kids
- Release Year: 1983
- Running Time: 98 minutes
A Christmas Story gallery
What parents need to know
Educational value
Positive role models
Violence & scariness
Sexy stuff
Language
Consumerism
Drinking, drugs, & smoking
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that both kids and adults use and discuss strong language ("ass," "son of a bitch"), and one famous scene involves young Ralphie using the "F" word (though movie viewers hear the word "fudge"). In one scene, the main character is punished for swearing by having his mouth washed out with soap. He's also bullied and beats up his nemesis, then cries afterward. One child sticks his tongue on a flagpole on a dare and needs the fire department to unstick him.
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Kids say
What's the story?
Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) is a 9-year-old boy in 1930s/'40s Indiana, whose entire life is consumed with his one wish: to get a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. He also has to deal with a seemingly endless wait for his Little Orphan Annie decoder ring, a nasty bully, and an overworked department-store Santa. His father (Darren McGavin) seems preoccupied with the neighbors' dogs (he hates them), a huge lamp in the shape of a lady's fishnet-stocking-clad leg that he won, the family's furnace, and the Christmas turkey. His mother seems preoccupied with getting his brother to eat and getting the leg-lamp out of the house, but both parents manage to come through for a chaotic but very merry Christmas.
Is it any good?
QUALITY
Part of the appeal of this movie, based on the memoirs of humorist Jean Shepard (who narrates), is the authenticity of the period detail, much of which will seem bizarre to kids today. But what is really engaging is his feel for the timeless details of childhood. Today's kids may not have Ralphie's exquisitely calibrated system of dares and double-dog dares, but they will have some equivalent that is just as thoroughly understood and immutable in their own schoolyard community. And they will have a bully to deal with, something sent away for with box-tops to haunt the mailbox for, a sibling to be annoyed by, an essay to dream of impressing the teacher with, the adult world to try to figure out, and, most of all, some magic dream of the ultimate Christmas present to hope for beyond all reason.
This is a nice antidote to all those Christmas television specials with perfectly harmonized carols and perfectly wrapped gifts. Because people tend to get so obsessive about every single detail at Christmas, the last scene of this movie, when the family's Christmas dinner is exactly the opposite of what they had planned, is especially sweet. Their reaction, seeing it not as a disappointment but as a delightful and funny adventure to enjoy remembering in future Christmases, is a lesson for all families.
Families can talk about...
Families can talk about bullies: What makes people act like bullies? What makes people befriend bullies? How will the bully's life change after Ralphie fights him?
Why is it hard for Ralphie to talk to his parents about what he wants for Christmas?
Why is Ralphie so disappointed by the decoder? Do products get advertised during your favorite shows? Does it sometimes catch you by surprise like it did Ralphie?
Movie details
| Theatrical release date: | November 18, 1983 |
| DVD release date: | October 7, 2009 |
| Cast: | Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon, Peter Billingsley |
| Director: | Bob Clark |
| Studio: | Warner Bros. |
| Genre: | Family and Kids |
| Topics: | Holidays |
| Run time: | 98 minutes |
| MPAA rating: | PG |
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Screen it before your kids do
I know my husband loves this movie, but I can't stand it at all. As a parent, I like it even less. The language is terrible for kids to see, it makes children think Santa does not get you what you want-and he is portrayed as being really nasty in this movie at the mall.
The father feeling up a sexy leg lamp is something little ones just simply would not get.
All in all, I think that you have to decide on how mature your child is before you watch this movie. It also is really watered down when they run it on television, so if you buy it on DVD, make sure you screen it before showing your kids, I think you will be shocked at the content the networks leave out.
What other families should know
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
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Great Movie For 10 and Up
This is such a great movie and for my family it is a classic. We are watching right now on Christmas. It is not ok for younger kids because they say bad words and there is the leg lamp of course.
What other families should know
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
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good movie, but some stuff maybe to inappropriate for younger kids
i think this movie is really hilarious, but i think that the language is too strong for elementery school kids. even though a bunch of the language was hard to make out, some words were clear to me. it also references the f words, even though it is not described.
What other families should know
Too much violence
Too much swearing
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