Ahhh, well. Perhaps it’s because you said it perfectly, and there’s a lot of silent agreement.

I always found Melinda Dillon to be quite appealing and in this movie she’s really endearing. If I didn’t already have the sweetest Mom, I’d want Ralph’s Mom.

I love how 50 percent (at least) of Darren McGavin’s dialog is intentionally grumbling nonsense sounds (since the premise is that he’s emitting a nearly constant stream of profanity). His delivery of this nonsense dialog is hilarious to me, and gets me every year. I don’t think I’d want him as a Dad, but he’s still hilarious, and pulls through in the end quite nicely when he’s suddenly reveals that he “gets” Ralph, and in fact is quite like him (but grown up and grumbled).

I will watch this every year for the rest of my life, if all goes well.

(By the way, I’m going through the 50 movies you’re reviewing looking for good movies to watch, but so far I’ve seen all the ones I care to watch. Hope endures, so I’ll keep reading.)