For my next film, I enter the world of the enthusiastic ‘Super-fan’, otherwise known as the ‘nerd’, with Road Trip For Ralphie, a DIY, lovingly-crafted amateur, fan-made ode to 1983’s holiday favourite A Christmas Story. In this rough n’ ready 2008 documentary, husband and wife amateur filmmakers and mega-fans of Bob Clark’s beloved film, Tyler and Jordie Schwartz set out to discover and visit all of the film's key shooting locations. Along the way they discover some interesting backstory to the making of their fave film and also come across some long-lost movie memorabilia.
I did see A Christmas Story when I was a lad but I don’t think it made much of an impression on me. I don’t recall too much about it other than a B.B. gun, a scary ginger bully and a boy getting his tongue frozen to a lamppost. Tyler and Jordie, however, have clearly seen this film a lot, to the point of obsessiveness. Watching this, for a non-fan, is like wandering into a Star Trek convention. You can appreciate and marvel at the dedication and enthusiasm these two have for the film, but it’s hard to feel truly involved unless you love the movie as much as they do.
As these two drive around wintery Ontario and Ohio with “Road Trip for Ralphie” painted on the side of their beat-up old van, getting mad excited about ‘famous’ lampposts, restaurants, street corners and stuff, I’m reminded of when I once went on a narrated bus tour of the city of Philadelphia. It was diverting enough, but felt like a long-winded, never-ending history lesson on something I felt pretty detached from. Luckily, main presenter/narrator Jordie’s relentless perkiness just about carries the film through.
A few minutes in, I realise that this film was made on the lowest of low budgets - this is essentially just two fans, a camcorder and a dream. It really is the cinematic equivalent of one of those bus tours - people driving around pointing at buildings, old fire engines, bridges and trains, telling us ‘interesting’ facts about them. Sometimes they even get out and have a bit of a wander around, chatting to the locals about their memories of that one magical winter in 1982 when a film production took over their little corner of North America. The guys do get some semi-interesting interviews out of people, such as from the guy who organised the vehicles, including a vintage fire truck for the 1950s set film. He seems only too happy to recount his memories and gives some cute little behind-the-scenes stories. You get the impression that not a lot happens in his little town.
Some of the film is pretty dull though, like watching Jordie try to get passers-by excited about the fact that they’re standing on a bit of concrete that was once a vacant lot where one small scene of the movie was shot. Happily, though, one guy in particular is mega-stoked to realise he’s stood next to a very small part of yuletide movie history.
Our tour guides keep everything wholesome and inject just enough energy to keep me watching, so I can’t help but root for their quest to visit every location used in the film, even if it is all a bit ‘meh.’
For super-fans of Bob Clark’s holiday staple this will likely be a mildly diverting watch but I find it hard to get excited about. There is one cool scene where they go to visit “Ralphie’s House” in Cleveland on the day that it has been opened to the public, restored to its movie grandeur as a museum to the film. Some minor cast members show up and share some stories, though it’s clear that Jordie and Tyler failed to get access to direct interviews with any of them. Bah, humbug!
Amazingly, towards the end, I do find myself really hoping that they will find their holy grail: “The Chop Suey Palace”, a Chinese restaurant from the film that nobody involved seems to remember the location of. It’s pretty funny when they do finally find it and it’s now a French bistro owned by a foreign dude who’s never heard of the film and struggles to hide the fact that he’s really not bothered by the revelation. It’s plain to see that by agreeing to be interviewed he’s just being nice (and likely won’t say no to some free publicity) and he just looks dumbfounded when they present him with a lovingly hand-crafted gingerbread Chop Suey Palace for him to keep. In a way, that gingerbread construction is a metaphor for this entire film - it’s likely the perfect gift for at least someone, but it is most definitely incredibly niche.
Still, there’s something indelibly sweet about watching two young dreamers achieve their- admittedly modest - dream. Hooray for the nerds. It’s not a great film by any means but with the pressure of watching these films every day starting to take its toll on me, I’m grateful that this one has at least thrown up something pretty different from the stuff I’ve been watching so far.
I’m realising that the constraints of forcing myself to watch festive movies constantly, whether I want to or not, can sometimes have an adverse effect on my mental health. It’s getting into sweltering Summer now and, though most of the films I’ve been viewing have carried overwhelmingly positive, heartwarming morals and messages, some days I just truly cannot be arsed with them. So, today I’m grateful that, though this one is hardly one for the history books, it is so different from the seasonal formula-led movies I’ve been bingeing on for close to six months that it weirdly feels like a bit of a treat. Way to go, Jordie and Tyler.
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