My Summer Story [Blu-ray]

Director: Bob Clark Bob Clark

Overview

My Summer Story is the video title for It Runs in the Family. Based on the writings of humorist
aconteur Jean Shepherd, the film was the long-awaited sequel to the 1984 "sleeper" A Christmas Story. Set in the 1940s, the story is told from the point-of-view of Ralphie Parker (Kieran Culkin), who watches in bemusement as "The Old Man" (Charles Grodin) carries on a long-running feud with their hillbilly neighbors, the Bumpus family. Mary Steenburgen is cast as Ralphie's ditsy mom. Also appearing is yet another celebrity sibling, Christian Culkin. Jean Shepherd himself narrates, as he did in the earlier film, while the direction is in the hands of A Christmas Story's Bob Clark.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/22/2016
UPC:	0887090117302
Original Release:	1994
Rating:	PG
Source:	Olive
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	1:25:00
Sales rank:	14,265

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Kieran Culkin	Eli Gromberg,Randy Parker
Charles Grodin	Mr. Parker
Mary Steenburgen	Mrs. Parker
Al Mancini	Zudoc
Troy Evans	The Old Man's Fishing Buddy
Roy Brocksmith	Mr. Winchell
Glenn Shadix	Leopold Doppler
Dick O'Neill	Pulaski
Wayne Grace	Emil Bumpus
Tedde Moore	Miss Shields
Whit Hertford	Lug Ditka,Lug Ditka
Geoffrey Wigdor	Flick
David Zahorsky	Schwartz
Darwyn Swalve	Big Dickie Bumpus
Marilyn Pitzer	Ma Bumpus
Ida Lee	Grandma Bumpus
John Volstad	Ace Bumpus
Frank Collison	Floyd Bumpus
Scott Thomson	Delbert Bumpus
Antonia Rey	Gypsy Woman
Robert Dickman	Clovis Bumpus
William Preston	Grandpa Bumpus
Scott Thompson	Delbert Bumpus
Anne Sayre	Cassie Bumpus
Antonia Ray	Gypsie Woman
Chris Owen	Scut Farkus
T.J. McInturff	Grover Dill
Annie Kitral	Mrs. Kissel
Jack Ong	Mr. Won Lung
Anthony Kiener	Traffic Cop
Larry Ramey	Auctioneer
Bernard Canepari	1st Neighbor
Anne Finnerty	2nd Neighbor
Ken West	3rd Neighbor
Dorothy Silver	4th Neighbor
Michael Mott	Fisherman
Doug Hufnagle	Man on Lake
Ariel Clark	Marble Kid
Jonathan Goch	Cinema Usher
Cassie Fichter	Little Girl
Jean Shepherd	Narration, Ralph (as an adult)

Technical Credits

Bob Clark	Director
Erik Cord	Stunts
Rene Dupont	Producer
Greg Hull	Special Effects
Marci Liroff	Casting
Jean Shepherd	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

My Summer Story, originally titled It Runs in the Family, returns enough ingredients from the holiday classic A Christmas Story for what should be a worthwhile sequel, another nostalgic trip into the Midwest of the 1940s. Narrator/book author Jean Shepherd, who based the Ralphie Parker character on himself, is back to give absurdist voice to Ralphie's thoughts; the production design is again fondly recreated; director Bob Clark reprises his role; and most of the new cast are reasonable facsimiles of the actors from the original. One bit of new casting, however, is a dreadful misstep from which the movie never recovers. Many fans of A Christmas Story have a special fondness for "the old man" as played by Darren McGavin, who made frustration a hilariously relatable emotion. Filling McGavin's big shoes is Charles Grodin, who turns Mr. Parker into a one-note boor, barking and bloviating endlessly, without espousing a single logical viewpoint. Grodin couldn't have been less nuanced if he tried, and his ridiculous behavior causes us to actually side with -- gasp -- the Bumpuses. Speaking of the Parkers' hillbilly neighbors, who were represented in the original only by their multitude of mangy hounds, the Bumpuses lose some of their priceless mystique here, when given a physical presence as characters. The old man's inexplicably fervent campaign against them is just one of this film's non-functioning vignettes, and just one of many script problems. The object of Ralphie's attentions is now a spinning top, rather than a BB gun, but that top only factors into the narrative sporadically; the rest of the celluloid is squandered on a bunch of aimless fishing episodes and attempts by Ralphie's mother to get free dinnerware, strung together in no particular order. These events may take place in the summer, but they hardly constitute a story.

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