My Summer Story

 

Picture: B-     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Film: C+

 

 

To this day, many fans of the beloved classic A Christmas Story have no idea it has a sequel.  You can't blame them, though.  Filmed as My Summer Story, promoted and barely released in theaters as It Runs in the Family, and again called My Summer Story when it came out on video the following year, only the most die-hard moviegoers or biggest Charles Grodin fans are likely to know it even exists.

 

I remember seeing posters hanging in multiplex lobbies and seeing a couple trailers for this MGM film in the summer of 1994.  It was to have been MGM's third summer release that year following Getting Even With Dad and Blown Away, but when those films didn’t live up to box-office expectations, MGM cancelled its planned August wide release of It Runs in the Family, and ended up dumping the film on a very limited number of screens in September, 1994, where it ended up grossing a paltry $70,936.

 

Clearly, after an already subpar summer, the then always struggling MGM didn't feel confident enough to spend millions on a wide release to a sequel that wasn't going to compare favorably to A Christmas Story.

 

The misbegotten film has now been released on MGM DVD via Sony Pictures under the title of My Summer Story -- MGM eventually used the title It Runs in the Family on the Michael Douglas-Kirk Douglas family drama from 2003.

 

The same creative team behind A Christmas Story, including writer/narrator Jean Shepherd and director Bob Clark, returned for My Summer Story, which takes place during the summer after the events in A Christmas Story.  But while a lot of the same people were back behind the camera, only one cast member returned from the first film, and that was Tedde Moore as Ralphie's teacher, Miss Shields.  Moore looked as if she didn't age much in the 11 years between the two films, and obviously Peter Billingsley and Ian Petrella were too old to play their ages in A Christmas Story, but somebody must have felt that Darren McGavin and Melinda Dillon (so memorable as the parents in A Christmas Story) had aged too much to return.

 

McGavin and Dillon are replaced in My Summer Story by Charles Grodin and Mary Steenburgen, who never make us forget how much better McGavin and Dillon were in these roles.  The same goes with Kieran Culkin (younger brother of Macaulay), who's OK, but is powerless to improve upon a part that was cast perfectly the first time with Billingsley.

 

Interestingly, My Summer Story is the last film Grodin did for 11 years until he took a supporting role last year in a yet-to-be-released movie starring Zach Braff.  Grodin tries hard as Old Man Parker, but more often than not, he seems to be trying to duplicate McGavin's gruffness, and it comes off sort of forced.  But I think Grodin and the filmmakers fell victim to the same circumstances: How can you do justice to an original which becomes more of a classic with each passing year?

 

That said, My Summer Story isn't a bad movie.  In fact, it's pleasant and often amusing without ever recapturing the charm of A Christmas Story.  If you go in knowing this isn't going to be anywhere near as good as A Christmas Story, you might even come away with a modest appreciation of the sequel on its own.

 

Filmed in the Cleveland area, but set in early 1940s Gary, Indiana, just as A Christmas Story was, My Summer Story takes place approximately six months later as the school year is winding down.  After getting the coveted Red Rider BB gun at the end of A Christmas Story, Ralphie's obsession in the sequel is beating new town bully Lug Ditka in a game of spinning tops.  Ralphie will look far and wide for a top good enough to beat the seeming invincible Lug.

 

Meanwhile, the Old Man becomes involved in a feud with the hillbillies living next door, the Bumpus family, whose many dogs, if you recall, ate the Old Man's turkey in the first one.  And Mom becomes increasingly frustrated with the unctuous manager of the local movie theater who continually promises a different gift each week at Ladies Day, but keeps giving away the same gravy boats week after week.

 

To the sequel's detriment, Ralphie's buddies, like Schwartz, who memorably got his tongue stuck a frozen pole in the original, and Flick are given little to do this time.

 

Already knowing it wouldn't come close to equaling the magic of the wonderful A Christmas Story, I liked My Summer Story better when I watched it for a second time recently.  It's a lot better than most of what passes for family entertainment these days, but just don't expect it to be a classic on the level of the original that you'll want to watch year after year.

 

The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer has a clear, sharp image throughout, but the Dolby Digital sound isn't very strong, and will probably have to be played at a higher volume rate than usual to hear all the dialogue if you don't have a top-notch sound system.  Not even an original theatrical trailer, which used to be a given when MGM distributed its own titles, is included. However, trailers for 5 other Sony Pictures are. 

 

 

-   Chuck O'Leary