27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delightful, and actually the sixth film about the Parker family!, August 3, 2008
Ralph Parker is the 10-year-old Indiana boy you may remember from a little film called "A Christmas Story". Well, from his following summer comes "My Summer Story", the tale of Ralph's search for the ultimate killer top to defeat the new head bully, Lug Ditka, the Old Man's war with their hillbilly neighbors, the Bumpuses, Mom's gravy boat incident at the Orpheum Theater, a trip to the World Exposition, and that all-important first summer of fishing with the Old Man and his buddies.
Before I get into assessing "My Summer Story", class, does everyone here realize that Ralph Parker and his family "existed" well before the American holiday favorite, "A Christmas Story"? To date, there have, in fact, been 6 films about Ralphie, Randy, Mom, the Old Man, Flick Schwartz, and company. Three of them even aired before "A Christmas Story" was even released. I say "aired" because, in fact, 4 of the other Ralphie films were made for PBS's American Playhouse, airing in 1976, 1982, 1983 (okay, not truly sure which appeared first in this case, as A Christmas Story was released in '83 as well), a much later one in 1989, and then there was the feature film sequel we are reviewing here in 1994. You may remember seeing these other Ralphie movies throughout the years on Disney Channel replays. These wonderful films were all based on the writings and radio stories of a true king of all media, Jean Shepherd.
One of America's greatest humorists, Shep's semi-autobiographical tales of the Parker family probably appeal to most because of something he actually claimed to be against (yeah, right), nostalgia. Set in the 1940's and high on Norman Rockwell/Walt Disney type Americana, I don't doubt that many of us Jean Shepherd fans are the same folks who have a devoted love for Mama's Family, the Carousel of Progress, apple pie, and Ernest movies. Whether you grew up in such an all-American setting and lifestyle as the Parkers or just wish you had, there's a charm to it all even when presented with Shep's scoffing reality checks. And that realism and our mix of nostalgic feelings for both the good and bad moments of growing up are what make all the Ralphie films must-sees if not must-owns.
So, to break it down for the many folks who consider themselves major "A Christmas Story" fans but don't even know about the other films, here are some descriptions of them, all narrated by Jean Shepherd, though with other cast members frequently changing:
1976 - The Phantom of the Open Hearth - Ralph is attending the prom. Yes, the TV films were all about a teenage Ralphie. This one also gives us the original film versions of the leg lamp story and the Orpheum dish-night fiasco, and the amusing build-it-yourself house story. It's my least favorite of the Ralphie films to watch though, because it's a bit depressing and probably the hardest to acquire a good copy of today, but still very enjoyable. Never released officially on VHS or disc. Ralph is played by David Elliot here, and the Old Man by the wonderful James Broderick. Mom is played by Barbara Bolton.
1982 - The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters - Matt Dillon plays Ralph in this one! It's probably my favorite of the Ralphie movies outside of "A Christmas Story". In it, Ralph goes on a disastrous blind date, marches in the 4th of July parade with his school band, and gets tangled up with Schwartz in a picnic race against their weasely buddy, Flick. Meanwhile, Mom takes up a washrag chain-letter, neighborhood drunk Ludlow Kissel surprises everyone with a firework from hell, and the Old Man puts on a fireworks display to thrill the masses. It's a must-see on every 4th of July for me, along with 1776, The Patriot, and Johnny Tremain. Great fun! James Broderick and Barbara Bolton return in this one. A wonderful, heartwarming holiday film. Sadly, another that's still only available under the table.
1983 - The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski - Another delightful one here. Teenage Ralph finds his first serious love in his new Polish neighbor, Josephine, but at her family's big Thanksgiving celebration he learns how serious a few dates can be with some families, and it's escape now or wind-up like his pal, the former high-school basketball star thrust too soon into adulthood. This one also explores the Old Man's bad habit of buying used cars and Randy's turn at playing a turkey in a school play. Good movie to watch on a Thanksgiving evening or anytime, but, again, not available officially on VHS or DVD. Forget about Blu-Ray. Ralph is well played by Peter Kowanko here, with George Coe as the Old Man and Barbara Bolton returning as Mom. Katherine Kamhi plays Josephine Cosnowski.
1983 - A Christmas Story - I'm sure you know this one. Ralph, 10 years old and played to perfection by a bespectacled Peter Billingsley, is on a holiday quest to insure himself the gift of a Red Ryder BB gun. A perfect movie and a Christmas classic. The Old Man is also played to perfection here by Kolchak himself, Darren McGavin, and likewise Mom played by Melinda Dillon. Easily available in any format I know of, and currently running for 24 full hours annually on one of those cable networks that starts with a T. At some point, inspired by this film, my family gave up the virtual repeats of Thanksgiving dinner on Christmas Day to instead go out to a local Chinese buffet. We never looked back.
1988 - Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss - The Parker family returned to TV in this one, as we see a barely teenage Ralph, played well by a young Jerry O'Connell of "Sliders" fame, getting his working papers and his miserable first job. In addition, the family dog, little Fuzzhead, runs away. The bulk of the story, however, is the family's maniacal road-trip to their favorite fishing haven, Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss. Another great cast brings another great Ralphie tale to life with the delightful Dorothy Lyman of "Mama's Family" as Mom and James Sikking nicely portraying the Old Man and feeling quite a bit like McGavin's version without it seeming intentional or forced. Available only on VHS so far. I believe Disney holds this one, so I wish they'd quit sitting on it.
1994 - My Summer Story - Well, you already got a synopsis for this one, I'll get more into it below. The Old Man is played here by Charles Grodin. Some folks say he seems to be trying to be Darren McGavin. Personally, I only got that feeling a wee bit when he sounded like he was trying to talk like him in a couple parts. Mostly, he seemed to be playing it on his own and he's enjoyable in the role most of the time. Mary Steenburgen was well cast as Mom, and Kieran Culkin plays Ralph well enough, but Peter Billingsley is a tough act to follow. The only returning cast member, aside from Jean Shepherd narrating as Adult Ralph, is Tedde Moore as Ralph's teacher, Miss Shields. This one was made for the big screen, originally titled "It Runs in the Family". I don't recall it ever actually going to theaters, at least not in my area. Probably had a limited release. The title was wisely changed to "My Summer Story", and the fact that another MGM release is titled "It Runs in the Family" likely causes some confusion at times for folks looking for this film. "My Summer Story" has been released on both VHS and DVD. I prefer the VHS cover to the "house wrapped in a straitjacket" DVD cover, but whatever. Neither is great nor reminiscent of the "A Christmas Story" poster artwork. The Ollie Hopnoodle's VHS cover is much better.
And that's the breakdown. If you find any one of them to be excellent outside of "A Christmas Story", then you'll probably love all of them. However, I realize a lot of folks will only love "A Christmas Story". It's a little different from all the others. It's got a charming, hazy quality and a bit more fantasy to it. It more perfectly portrays a child's viewpoint than any of the other Ralphie flicks, though most of the others show him as a teenager, so that's natural. And, of course, it's a Christmas film, and this is what most folks love about it. It shows an American Christmas the way many of us remember it, flaws and all. The other Ralphie films do the same for growing up, but that doesn't have as wide an appeal without the Christmas subject.
To get more specifically into "My Summer Story", here's what I have to say about it. If you love nostalgic and/or family stuff, you'll love this. However, I know nearly everyone is going to compare it to "A Christmas Story", and that's too bad. When you bring Christmas into the mix, forget it. Christmas beats everything. Christmas rocks, I won't argue it, and what better setting for a film about the good and bad times of childhood? Nevertheless, all the Ralphie films are good films, including "My Summer Story". Granted, "My Summer Story", being the only big screen sequel to "A Christmas Story", is the Ralphie movie that tries the most to copy the style of "A Christmas Story", and this is both good and bad. It's good when they pull it off, and with the same filmmakers behind it (like A Christmas Story, this one was directed by the late Bob Clark), you'd think they'd pull it off totally. The problem is when the attempt to be like "A Christmas Story" is obviously forced. Lacking that lovely haze of an early '80's film, "My Summer Story" tries to recapture the more lighthearted elements of "A Christmas Story" with a few moments of silliness most noticeable in the Old Man's feud with the Bumpuses. For me, these are the weakest parts of the film, because the Bumpuses are just a bit too cartoonlike and some of the feuding moments that are supposed to be hilarious don't quite work for me. And this brings up the other little problem that hurts "My Summer Story". This time around, Jean himself does seem to go a little overboard with his boisterousness during the...
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