Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss

This, I believe, is a superb installment of the Jean Sheppard Christmas Story trilogy. Jerry O'Connell does a, though very different from the "A Christmas Story", wonderful job in his portrayal of Ralphie. I believe it offers many humorous parts (ie. the mother's voice, "We're not buying any junk today!", etc.) There may be some slow parts, but if you pay attention to dialogue and such there really aren't any excessively dull moments. The Randy character, though not as major a character as in "Christmas", takes the scenes he is in he makes absolutely and annoyingly funny. The unique stylized format and period obvious clothes put you directly into the movie. My family and I enjoy this movie very much and I think if you took the time to sit and watch the movie you will, too.

I kind of like the beginning, but after 20 minutes or so, I could barely tolerate it. It is so normal, every day. It is like watching your next door neighbor's life. There is no adventure, no excitement and little humor, however, for the sake of originality, I must say that it is a couple points above average.

This is a great movie. I am surprised, given how popular the Christmas Story is, that they have not released this to DVD as a sequel. I wish I could get a copy to show my kids, but have never been able to find it. Many favorite lines that we can relate to, e.g. when the family kinds a junky gift shop, "somehow, things that you would never buy at home, when you are on vacation, they make sense!" The movie has the same slow-paced, Garrison-Keillor-type wry humor that the Christmas Story has. It has the same nostalgic sense that times of blue-collar kitsch were silly, but also there was something noble about the attempt of the working man to create beauty.

There are more Jean Shepherd films than some folks know about, starting with a truly great pair of movies, The Phantom of the Open Hearth (1978), and The Great American 4th of July and Other Disasters (1982). These two are absolutely wonderful, low budget PBS American Playhouse prequels to A Christmas Story (1983), the classic movie that put Shepherd on the maps of millions. Squeezed in there after Xmas Story is The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski (1985), also charming and set in Ralphie's senior year, then finally this one: Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss in 1988. I won't even mention It Runs in the Family, that unfortunate entry from 1994, except to say it's better than this one.

This one barely holds up, and although it doesn't have the charms of the previous four Shepherd films, it is still sorta worth watching because it's all we have.

I'm really not sure why this particular installment was stretched out to 90 minutes, because it drags on, and it's clear it was just filling cinematic time. Maybe Disney had a slot to fill and they dragged this one out in the editing room. Ollie Hopnoodle would have benefitted from the 50 minute runtime format of Great American 4th of July, and the Phantom of the Open Hearth. This film is a bore and a chore. I get it, we want to love it because it's Jean Shepherd, and the library is all it will ever be, but honestly it's spread thin.

So, the whole movie is cobbled together, which isn't unusual for a Shep film story. But this one is drawn out too long. It's not all bad, but it lacks the genuine charms of the fantastic four Shep films that precede it. If nothing else, it's a nostalgic piece of storytelling where we get to sit back and bask in the glorious voice of Jean Shepherd's timelessly spun narratives, and we will never get another one. That much is a good thing.

Believe it or not, I actually saw this movie before I saw "A Christmas Story"! This was the movie that made me fall in love with Jean Sheperd, Ralphie and all of his lovable family and friends ...including, "Fuzzhead, Fuzzhead, Fuzzhead!" The cast has changed, but it doesn't seem to matter, as I always think of it as being the same. The characters are captured beautifully as established in the original film by Darrin McGavin, etal. The film is wonderfully nostalgic as it follows Ralphie's family on their annual family vacation. Lots of good, clean, family fun and humor. It is unfortunate that it has never been released on video as this is a family favorite and an absolute must see!