What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this is a nice antidote to all those Christmas TV specials with perfectly harmonized carols and perfectly wrapped gifts. 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. Kids should be warned that this is a movie prank -- it shouldn't be tried at home.

Families who see this movie 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? Families can also discuss why Ralphie's father likes the lamp so much? Why does his mother dislike it? 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? Why is a "triple dog dare" so hard to resist?

Common Sense Media Review
Ralphie ( Peter Billingsley) is a 9-year-old boy in 1930s Gary, Indiana, whose entire life is consumed with his one wish: to get a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. But all of the adults in his life have the same reaction: "You'll shoot your eye out!"

He also has to deal with his friends, family, and teacher, with a seemingly endless wait for his Orphan Annie decoder ring, a nasty bully, and an overworked department-store Santa. His father, "the Old Man" ( Darren McGavin) seems preoccupied with the neighbors' dogs (he hates them), his radio contest prize, a huge lamp in the shape of a lady's fishnet-stocking-clad leg (he loves it), the family's furnace (he engages in fervent combat with it), and the Christmas turkey (he wants it). 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.

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 unfamiliar and even 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 (and probably the bully's nasty little sidekick as well), 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.

Familes who like this movie may also enjoy A Charlie Brown Christmas and Elf .

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