It's summer. It's vacation time. So let's take a look at the 6-films in the National Lampoon Vacation series. This is a ranking and (mostly) brief review of each movie. My opinions, of course.
6. NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION 2: COUSIN EDDIE’S ISLAND ADVENTURE
Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) and his family (including Miriam Flynn, Jake Thomas, and Edward Asner) are bound for a vacation in the South Pacific, but a storm shipwrecks them on an island.
Amateurish, cheap (it was released direct-to-video), and slapdash, Christmas Vacation 2 might be even worse than Vacation 2015, but I’m willing to award the former a few brownie points. There’s one scene that almost manages to be funny involving Cousin Eddie and a bathtub. The scene recalls to mind a classic Three Stooges short involving broken water pipes that Curly desperately tries to mend. The short, A Plumbing We Will Go, is 23 trillion light years better, but in a movie like Christmas Vacation 2, a movie so bereft of laughs, at least the bathtub scene is SOMETHING.
Christmas Vacation 2 also gets points for bringing back the first (and in my opinion the best) Audrey, played by Dana Barron, from the original Vacation; Eric Idle, arbitrarily returning from European Vacation, gets some near-funny business; and Randy Quaid, my favorite of the Quaid brothers (truthfully), gets to take center stage. I always found Randy Quaid to be a genuinely unique actor, actually best in dramatic roles (see The Last Detail), and he really shined brightly as Cousin Eddie in the Vacation series.
But how much is too much? Christmas Vacation 2 demonstrates that Cousin Eddie was the character equivalent of a very rich chocolate mousse dessert. Consider it an experience tantamount to fine dining. You sit through a terrific meal, enjoying every bite, but waiting expectantly for your dessert to arrive. When it does, you’re all too eager to devour the luxuriant chocolate mousse. But it comes in a small bowl. The perfect size for something so decadent. Eat too much of the indulgent dessert and you’ll spend the night hovering over a slippery toilet seat, puking it into the bowl.
That’s what Christmas Vacation 2 is: up-chucked chocolate mousse from a much better dinner.
5. VACATION (2015)
Following in the grand family tradition of eschewing air travel, a now grown-up Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms) takes his wife (Christina Applegate) and two sons on a cross-country trip to Walley World. Few films have so woefully misunderstood the elements that made the original so beloved. Vacation 2015 thinks gross-out humor and shit jokes yield instant guffaws. They do, but only if they’re FUNNY, which almost NOTHING in this trash heap is. It’s equally soul-deadening to see Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo slum it with this inferior, fading Xerox of their classic.
And poor Chris Hemsworth. He’s one of the select few to emerge from this wreckage mostly unscathed. Unfortunately, the unrelenting waves of trite lameness from a moronic, dull script eventually drag Thor under too.
Vacation 2015 is a movie that does everything wrong, except prove Ed Helms cannot carry a film himself. The only bit that made me laugh, a riff on the Christie Brinkley-Ferrari Girl from the original, was spoiled in the trailer. A teachable moment for hack filmmakers: don’t waste your only funny business in the trailer, if the rest of your movie is wretchedly unfunny.
4. NATIONAL LAMPOON’S EUROPEAN VACATION
After appearing on a game show, Clark and the rest of the Griswolds (misspelt in the film as Griswalds) win an all-expenses paid vacation around Europe.
I always felt that European Vacation was so painfully unfunny that the Blu-ray should come with a prescription for Vicodin. I still do, and it remains my least favorite of the Chevy Chase fronted installments.
Unsure of exactly what it should do or be, European Vacation leans too heavily on the template set by the original. The sequel copies its predecessor’s structure by simply switching out the specifics: the Italian Alps replace the Grand Canyon; an orange Volkswagen, not the garish family roadster; befuddled German relatives instead of the intra-bred Cousin Eddie clan.
Despite a faded and washed-out color palette, European Vacation looks competently made. But the worst script of the original 4-films mostly maims director Amy Heckerling (also the director of Clueless and Fast Times at Ridgemont High). The screenplay is a travelogue of hackneyed sketches, poking fun at the ignorance of American tourists and the rudeness or amiability of the locals they encounter. (The French are rude! The British are friendly! The steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car! Ha! Ha! Ha!). Incredibly, the movie seems to believe that these are fresh, revelatory observations.
Less of a chore to pick out the good bits, they are sadly spread out far and wide: Chase’s interactions with Idle, as an overly-agreeable Brit who Clark accidentally inflicts recurring bodily harm on, has spark to it; John Astin’s fleeting cameo as an amorous game show host won’t sit well with today’s PC club, but is more in keeping with the naughty, more than slightly nasty, comedy of the Lampoon.
Beverly D’Angelo always shines as Ellen, not only in her electric chemistry with Chase, but her ability to be both sexy and silly. The less said about Euro-Rusty and Euro-Audrey the better. Though not fault of the actors (Jason Lively and Dana Hill), these Griswold offspring are probably the least likable in the series. They’ve been transformed into crass, self-absorbed, and sex-addicted. The screenplay hobbles them into two-dimensional stereotypes.
The conceit of European Vacation makes sense and is fertile. Clark, the square, uncultured, and slightly self-important All-American, seems like the ideal character to ship off to Europe. A reasonable set-up for a fish-out-of-water counterpart to the original Vacation. And yet a weak script lets it all burn down. Worse it’s clear that Chase knows the movie isn’t working; that he’s trying to be funny in a burning house.
While not the worst in the Vacation series, this is one time I wish the Griswolds just stayed home.
3. VEGAS VACATION
Clark takes his family to Las Vegas so that he and Ellen can renew their wedding vows.
Truly love something and you’ll forgive its faults, even accept them. That how I feel about Vegas Vacation. I have no issue admitting that my nostalgia for it clouds my judgment of it. I accept what it is: a watered-down, bowdlerized version of the original. I accept that the script lacks the ingenuity and sparking laughs of other installments. And yes, it’s a little demoralizing to watch a graying Chevy Chase attempt to get back into the rhyme of Clark Griswold. I accept all of that. But I still love it.
Vegas Vacation lacks a distinctive style or aesthetic, and at times there’s desperation to recapture what came before (long before, actually — 8 years separated this and the previous film, Christmas Vacation.) But it’s still an enjoyable ride. While not as acerbic as its earlier counterparts, Vegas Vacation might actually be the darkest of all the Vacation movies.
Consider in the span of an hour and a half: Clark develops a gambling addiction; Ellen becomes so sexually aroused by Wayne Newton that she nearly enters into an affair; Rusty gets pally with potentially mobbed-up high rollers; and Audrey starts go-go dancing in a cage (at a club her brother frequents).
Intermingling with these dark turns is a surreal, dream-like undercurrent: Wayne Newton, the Vegas icon, plays a sinister, lecherous version of himself, determined to win Ellen Griswold; brought up on stage during Siegfried and Roy’s magic act, Clark vanishes into thin air, only to reappear at the show’s end surrounded by white tigers; and as if conjured during a fever dream, Cousin Eddie cooks raw chicken on hot desert stones. The surrealism acts as a counterpoint to effectively lighten up the darkness, but creates a very trippy ride.
An off-beat cast feathers out the film. Newton has fun skewering his “nice-guy” persona. Julia Sweeney has a small but memorable turn as a very conscientious Mirage Hotel clerk. Wallace Shawn steals scene after scene as Clark’s nemesis, a vindictive blackjack dealer.
Marisol Nichols and Ethan Embry are the most underrated Audrey and Rusty. They invest their characters with relatability without sacrificing amiability. Embry is best when goofball Rusty has assumed the persona of Nick Pappagiorgio, a big-spender from Yuma. Nichols tastefully enacts Audrey’s transformation from a good-girl on her parents’ vacation to free spirit dancing atop the Vegas lights. Miriam Flynn returns as Cousin Catherine and, fortunately for us, gets more screen time.
Also back is Quaid, who gets to play Eddie at his most sleazy and most white-trash. He’s proud of his trailer-home in the desert (built on a “beautiful” piece of government land, previously used for H-Bomb testing), and his kids are thriving (his daughter Vicki is a successful stripper, thanks in part to “moves” Eddie taught her.)
Beverly D’Angelo gets a juicy storyline as Ellen faces the many allures and temptations of Wayne Newton. While not Chase’s best go-around as Clark, he still generates plenty of laughs. His finest scenes are with Shawn and/or Quaid, particularly as Clark’s gambling addiction becomes stronger and harder to shake off.
If you think it soils cinema to call Vegas Vacation a “film”, then I guess you weren’t lucky enough to grow up in the early-to-mid 00s. That was a magical time when the film was shown ubiquitously on TV. I feel sad that you cannot enjoy the peculiar phantasmagoria that is Vegas Vacation.
2. NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION
Clark Griswold takes his family on a hijinks-filled roadtrip to Walley World
Vacation devotees typically fall into two categories: those who prefer the original, and those who prefer Christmas Vacation. I am part of the later, but I have no quarrel with members of the former.
There’s a reason National Lampoon’s Vacation begat a franchise that spans four decades. It’s one of the funniest films ever made, with a cast so eerily perfect for the characters they brought to life and rendered iconic. Several key components are vital to the success of the original film.
Of course, there’s Chevy Chase. He will always be Clark Griswold. Chevy is Clark. Griswold is Chase. Every touch, every sneer, every lilt of his head is spot-on. He speaks Clark’s lines as if no other actor could have. Chase does something magical with Clark, making the Griswold patriarch relatable and lovable, even when Clark acts like a disgusting sack of shit.
In the original Vacation, Clark is a pretty despicable guy: He tries coax oral sex from his wife as his children sleep in the back seat; fakes remorse for (accidentally) killing a golden retriever; and hops naked into a swimming pool with Christie Brinkley, ready to engage in all sorts of underwater infidelity. And this is why Clark remains Chase’s signature character: in spite of any indiscretions, we still love Clark Griswold, we root for his success, and pay money to see more of him in sequel after sequel.
But Chase doesn’t carry the film on his own. The other actors in the family roadster are equally important to the film’s (and franchise’s) longevity. Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Anthony Michael Hall, and Dana Barron create something so rare and near mystical: the illusion that they are a real family. That there exists long history between them, full of life lived and memories created. One almost believes that other vacations existed before this one, but we just didn’t get to see them. It’s a powerful illusion bolstered by the actors.
Throughout every turn as Ellen Griswold, Beverly D’Angelo never performs as a comedienne; she’s an actress. She is the one and only Ellen Griswold. Many actors played the Griswold siblings, but none were better than Anthony Michael Hall and Dana Barron. They feel most like siblings; they are more than one dimensional bickerers in the back seat. Look to a scene where a teary-eyed Audrey begs Clark to take them home. Rusty wraps a comforting arm around his little sister, and pulls her close. A tiny moment that adds such texture to their relationship; a texture that creates this illusion that they are what they pretend to be.
Give credit too to director Harold Ramis. Not only did he assemble this group of actors, but he is so unselfish in his direction. This is only his second directorial output (after Caddyshack). Ramis never calls attention to his direction or camera, allowing the actors and the comedy to get the focus. He’s wholly committed to the brand of humor the film strikes for, courtesy of the unwavering script from John Hughes.
The comedy is hard, acidic, unflinching, and at times proudly cruel. This is a movie that has the main character strapping a dead old woman to the luggage rack of his car; a joke about a father (Cousin Eddie) tongue-kissing his young daughter; and a motorcycle cop heading back to scrape the carcass of Dinky the dog off the highway. Ramis has the confidence and comedic acumen to get this all to play and remain appealing. (The only scene which doesn’t is an unfortunate one involving a crime-ridden St. Louis street — Ramis disavowed it.)
National Lampoon’s Vacation has endured for close to 40 years thanks to the combined talents of the cast, director, crew, and writer. The Citizen Kane of roadtrip films, and for many, one of the pillars of 80s comedies.
1. NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION
Clark Griswold is determined to give his family an old-fashioned Christmas, even as everything goes wrong around him.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is one of the greatest movies ever made. It transcends the series and into our culture: A house festooned with too many Christmas lights is a “Griswold house”; 10-year-olds bop about on Christmas Day wearing “Shitter’s Full” t-shirts; and who else has a relative that recites the Pledge of Allegiance every Christmas Eve? Whether you celebrate the holiday or not, Christmas Vacation is a nondenominational experience for all.
Much of the film’s magic stems from its marvelous script. Most associate John Hughes with his teen-comedies (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club), but he is the real progenitor of the Vacation films. Hughes was a writer for the National Lampoon magazine. He adapted his short story “Vacation ’58” into the screenplay for the original film. He’s one of two credited writers for European Vacation, but his association was by default. Unused material from Vacation was retrofitted by Robert Klane into the sequel script. By the time a third installment came about, Hughes was initially uninterested. However, he had another Lampoon short story, “Christmas ’59”. This became his basis for Christmas Vacation.
Hughes’s script is remarkable in deftly amalgamating subversive Lampoon humor with genuine pathos. But Hughes never allows the story to become so sugary that it rots cavities into the film’s fangs: Clark still goes bugfuck crazy in a profanity-rich rant; a cat still gnaws on electrical cords, imploding into furry gossamer; and the attic scene, where a misty-eyed Clark watches home movies of Christmases past, still ends with Clark falling out of the attic. It’s a Herculean balancing act of disparate tones.
Hughes’s screenplay is further elevated by the cast. The script provides Chase the opportunity to give his most layered performance as Clark, and he does beautifully. D’Angelo, despite having less to do, is still excellent. Christmas Vacation remains the best showcase for Quaid’s Cousin Eddie. Johnny Galecki and Juliette Lewis create very unique interpretations of their characters: Galecki plays an almost world-weary Rusty, disgusted and exasperated by the buffoonery of the adults. Lewis plays the most understated Audrey; she looks thoroughly embarrassed to be there, like she’d rather be anywhere else.
For those of us who love old character actors, Christmas Vacation is the best holiday gift. You have greats like William Hickey, Diane Ladd, Doris Roberts, John Randolph, E.G. Marshall, and even the voice of Betty Boop, Mae Questel. Also remarkable about the film, you can watch it at any time of the year and it’s just as good as when Jack Frost is nipping at your nose. (I can attest — I recently revisited it the day after July 4th.)
You can identify some specific ingredients that make a film so special, like a terrific script or talented actors. But some movies just have that indescribable X-factor; that sip from the Fountain of Youth that blesses them immortality. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is certainly one of the blessed. Or as Uncle Lewis would say, “THE BLESS-SSING!!”
-T.Z.
_film_poster.jpeg)
