This was a different experience. I was unable to sleep last night, and A Christmas Story was on TBS, while Casino was on Encore, which I don't technically get, but the scrambling job At&T did is horrible for that channel, so it comes in with good sound and a decent picture for a crappy antenna in an apartment complex.
Anyway, I like both movies, and I was watching them both together, so I figured I'd review them as such.
It's Las Vegas in December of 1940. Little Ralphie wants nothing more for Christmas than a Red Ryder BB gun, and he is willing to try everything in his power to get Santa to bring him one. Everyone kepps telling him he'll shoot his eye out, and his hopes for his dream present are dwindling.
Meanwhile, Sam "Ace" Rothstein and Nicky Santoro are sent to Vegas to run the Tangiers Casino. Rothstein is the real boss while the dummy boss, Phillip Green, keeps up the clean public image. Nicky Santoro is the muscle. He makes sure nobody messes with Sam, and he says naughty words a lot. The whole casino thing is a scam, sort of. Basically, the folks back home sent Rothstein to run the casino and make sure they skim a precentage off the top of the casino's revenue while, simultaneously, preventing people from skimming off the skim. In other words, enusuring honesty within a dishonest system. Naturally, that never works.
So Ralphie keeps hinting at the BB gun, which everyone keeps saying no to, and lots of things start to happen. His dad gets this giant glowing female leg that the mom hates, but everyone else loves, Ralphie's friend gets his tongue stuck to a flagpole, and Ralphie says a naughty word (the one Nicky Santoro prefers) in front of his dad and has his mouth washed out with soap. The whole sequence of events is narrated by the older, wiser Ralphie and is interspersed with little imagination sequences. One fateful day at school, Ralphie sees his big chance to get his BB gun. He has an assignment to write an essay about what he wants for Christmas. This was it. He knew if he wrote an amazing essay, the present was guaranteed. He goes home, writes his essay, and it's the greatest thing he's ever written. There's no way it could fail.
Well, it turns out the plan doesn't work out so well. People are skimming off the skim and it's all going to hell. Ace is trying to maintain control in the casino despite all the trouble going on. People are rigging machines, stealing money, cheating, and so on. Ace also meets Ginger. She's a high-class prostitute, and he falls in love. They get married, and she pretty much hates him. She's still not over her last boyfriend, and she keeps sending him money. Meanwhile, Nicky has stopped being Ace's muscle and gone into business on his own, pretty muchc ruining any sense of credibility Ace once had. He's robbing places, killing people, and generally making things exremely difficult, especially for Ace. Ace and Ginger have a daughter, and Ginger continues to see the pimp and give him money. Naturally, Ace gets wind of this and has his guys rough him up while Ginger watches. Eventually, she takes the kid and runs away, but comes back the next day after talking to (and sleeping with) Nicky. Ace soon discovers that Ginger wants to kill him. He kicks her out, takes her back, and kicks her out again when she goes to see Nicky and leaves their daughter tied to her bed. Nicky keeps bringing heat down on Ace, and Ace suggests that he move away for a bit so things can cool down. Not the thing to say to Nicky.
The day finally comes when the papers are graded. Ralphie can just feel the A++ that he'll be getting. He knows there's no way this thing could do bad. He gets his paper, opens it, and looks at the grade. C+. Wait. That can't be right. C+. Down at the bottom of the paper, the teacher had written, "You'll shoot your eye out." She must be in league with her mother. What else can he do? There's no way he's going to get the Red Ryder BB gun. As he's walking home, a snowball hits him in the face. It's Scott Farcus (or however it's spelled), the school bully. This was not the time to mess with Ralphie. Any day but today. Ralphie charges and beats Scott to a pulp.
Nicky and Ace exchenge words, and Nicky is not happy. Ace knows about him and Ginger, and he's not happy either. There's another development, too. Word gets out that Ace is running the casino, and he doesn't have a license. He gets fired, and everything falls apart. Ginger takes her money and leaves, squandering it all on booze and drugs, and Ace gets carbombed.
Ralphie's mom shows up and takes Ralphie home. His little brother, Randy had gone to get her. The mom avoids making a big deal about the fight so the dad won't go nuts, as he's been known to do. Meanwhile, Ralphie is sad over the inevitability that he won't get his gift. To make matters worse, his mom broke his dad's leg lamp. Then it occurs to him. There's still a chance. He could still go see Santa at the mall. The family goes to the mall, and Ralphie and Randy stand in a gigantic line to see Santa, right behind an obnoxious kid wearing goggles. They slowly make their way up, and finally, it's Ralphie's turn. Santa asks what he wants. Ralphie looks at him and is stumped. He draws a complete blank. Oh no. This was it. This was the moment, and he can't even remember what it was he was there for. How about a football? What's a football? Sure, I'll take a football. What am I saying? I don't want a football. I want a Red Ryder BB gun. Ralphie turns back toward Santa and tells him. This was the Big Guy. He can't refuse Ralphie. Santa looks him in the eye and says those immortal words. "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."
It turns out Ace survives the bomb. Whoever planted it was an amateur, and Ace got out of the car alive. He thinks he knows who is responsible, at least indirectly, and he knows the bosses are not gonna be pleased. Elsewhere in Nevada, Nicky and his brother are taken out to the desert Nicky is forced to watch as his brother is beaten with an aluminum baseball bat. The breathing, bloody remains are thrown into a hole, and it was Nicky's turn. Nicky is beaten, stripped, and buried in the sand on top of his brother, both of them still breathing.
It 's finally the Big Day. Christmas had come. Ralphie and Randy rush downstairs and see the glorious bounty Saint Nick had left them. Groggily, their parents came down to join them. They tear through the gifts, one by one, and great fun is had by all, but, alas, no rifle. But wait. What's that over in the corner? Ralphie goes to check it out. What could it... Is this... It is! Dumbfounded, Ralphie pulls the gun out of the box and loads it. Half a second later, he's outside, aiming at a paper target. He looks down the barrel of the glorious rifle, squeezes the trigger, and POP! Ralphie's glasses fly off, and he falls backwards. Oh no. He really shot his eye out! Mom can't know about this. Where are his glasse... CRUNCH! Uh oh. Ralphie comes up with a convincing lie, whips up some tears, and runs inside. Unbeknownst to Ralphie, and anyone else for that matter, Ralphie had left the kitchen door open. The neighbors' 47 dogs wandered into the kitchen where they did not just devour the turkey. They defeated it. There was nothing left. (Mmmm... turkey....) So, the family goes to a Chinese restaurant and orders the duck. That night, Ralphie lay asleep in his bed, his precious rifle tucked under his arm, and slowly drifted to sleep.
Now, I'm not much for gangster or Christmas movies. Casino was a great story, brilliantly written and acted.
A Christmas Story is something else. There's something about that movie I just love. I like the childhood innocence, the yearning, the great feelig that went with Christmas that I had as a child, seeing Santa at the mall, asking for that special gift, rushing downstairs at 2:00 in the morning to open presents, going to bed that night and just being content with everything. I miss that.