VIDEO CAPSULE: Vacation (8/10)

[JoBlo]

Vacation

We all know this movie, we've all seen this movie and hopefully, we all love this movie, cause I sure do! I just watched the original VACATION again for the umpteenth time and let me tell you, it just gets funnier every time that I see it.

The Griswald family is like no other, and if you've ever experienced any kind of "bad family vacation" scenario, you can bet that it's not half as bad as the one that you will share with these clowns!

Chevy Chase is hilarious once again as Clark Griswald, the patriarch of the group who apparently is on a "mission" to assure that his family has "fun" on their vacation (because as it turns out, his family went on vacation 18 years in a row, and they NEVER had fun...something I picked up this time around).

Anyway, this film has many funny moments, gives you some T&A via the lovely Beverly D'Angelo, offers a decent helping of Christie Brinkley, classic John Candy, and a couple of early turns for Anthony Michael Hall and Jane Krakowski, whose father apparently told her that "she's the best french-kisser"....great line!

If you love comedy, you can't go wrong with VACATION.

Stars Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid

[Brock Landers]

Yeah, that cousin Vicki is something else...

Cousin Vicki: I'm going steady, and I French kiss.
Audrey Griswold: So? Everybody does that.
Cousin Vicki: Yeah, but Daddy says I'm the best at it.

...cousin Eddie is still my fave though...

Cousin Eddie: I don't know why they call this stuff hamburger
helper. It does just fine by itself, huh? I like it better than tuna
helper myself, don't you, Clark?
Clark Griswold: You're the gourmet around here, Eddie.

Eddie: I got laid off when they closed that asbestos factory, and
wouldn't you know it, the army cuts my disability pension because
they said that the plate in my head wasn't big enough.

Clark Griswold: Real tomato ketchup, Eddie?
Cousin Eddie: Oh, nothing but the best.



[This message has been edited by Brock Landers (edited 09-18-2000).]

[samiam418]

Is it just me or does everybody have a Cousin Eddie. I love to watch that movie right before I go on vacation with my family because I swear my Mother acts as insane as Clark. The vacation Christmas is my house at the holidays.
Clark-We are going to have the holly jolliest since Danny Fucking Kaye sang Whit Christmas(or something lke that)
Was it just me or did Vegas Vacation SUCK!

[JoBlo]

<moderator bump>

[Benny]

"National Lampoon's Vacation" is not a great movie, but it has plenty of great one-liners and funny situations to make an enjoyable film. Plus, it's one of Chevy Chase's few good movies which he was in.

Chase plays Clark Griswald, who is your typical average American dad. His family includes his wife Ellen (played by Beverly D'Angelo, who is very sexy in this movie), and their kids Russ and Audrey. Having just bought a new station wagon, Clark takes the family on a two-week vacation from their home in Chicago to the theme park Wally World in California! Along the way, some hilarious things happen to the Griswalds, but somehow they manage to get to Wally World by the end.

Some of the funniest moments come at their cousins' house in Kansas. Cousins Vicki and Eddie provide some hilarious moments, and the Girswalds end up taking grandma and her dog Stinky along with them. I won't spoil what happens to the dog, but it's very funny!

Also the scenes in Wally World do a great job at poking fun at Disney. Instead of Mickey Mouse, there is Marty Moose. At one point in the car, the family sings Marty Moose's theme song, which sounds almost exactly like the "Who's the leader of the club?" song which Mickey Mouse sings!

But this film really touched close to home because the Griswalds are a lot like my family when it comes to vacationing. Our family took a vacation across America in 2000, and although not everything was as crazy as the Griswald's vacation, it came pretty close. Overall this movie is really fun, even though it sags a bit in the middle, and there are some hilarious classic lines from it.

7/10

[PackBacker]

This film is truly a comedy classic. I think that everyone can enjoy this film because they can personally identify with it on some level. We all have had vacation mishaps and have those "different" relatives like Aunt Edna or Cousin Eddie. Not to mention that most of us guys wouldn't mind fooling around with Christie Brinkley. http://www.joblo.com/ubb/smile.gif

These films are just pure aimless fun. Nothing that is incredible filmmaking but something that you can turn off your brain for an hour and a half and enjoy. A couple memorable lines, some stupid laughs, and that feeling that somehow you've lived part of this film...