A Christmas Story
Director: Bob Clark
Year Released: 1983
Rating: 3.0
A Holiday classic - based on the writings of Jean Shepherd - about one little boy's obsession with male empowerment: getting a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas to shoot imaginary foes (he receives the gift shortly after beating up the local bully). What's so nice about this is how Clark (and Shepherd) keep a kind of nastiness to it: the suburbs of Indiana are kind of ugly, and the people aren't always that nice - especially not the lead character (Peter Billingsley, in a timeless role) who curses, gets his friends in trouble and is damn stubborn. Shepherd himself provides the running commentary (and his voice and observations are distinctive); his work in general must have played a big influence on the style of a certain David Sedaris (another writer well known for his work on the radio).
