Christmas Vacation
Cast
Chevy Chase as Clark Wilhelm Griswold, Jr.
Beverly D'Angelo as Ellen Griswold
Juliette Lewis as Audrey Griswold
Johnny Galecki as Russell 'Rusty' Griswold
John Randolph as Clark Wilhelm Griswold, Sr.
Directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik
Rater #2 has description and review
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #2
7/10. Please note that I saw this on TV, so my review might have been
different if I saw it "unedited"
Maybe the least memorable in the Vacation series, but brings us to
the Griswold's house. The Vacation in the title is very misleading;
in fact, everyone comes to Chevy Chase's house, instead of the
opposite. Chase, yet again, plays Clark W. Griswold, bumbling food
preservative maker. His wife Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) is seen under
the radar for most of this movie. In fact, there aren't really any
subplots. The yuppie neighbors nextdoor (Nicholas Guest and Julia-
Louis Dreyfuss) (Dreyfuss was the second billed!) don't really count;
they're just there for comic relief. Anyway, everyone comes to the
Griswold's for a hopefully fun filled time. Yeah, right.
Clark's Aunt Bethany (Mae Questel, voice of Betty Boop) is a
hoot. "Clark, is the house on fire?" "No, Aunt Bethany, those are the
Christmas lights." Of course, when the entire family comes, you can't
really expect all of the people to be memorable (suffered last in
Meet the Parents). Who is who? Well, there's a red-haired woman named
Frances (Doris Roberts, TV's Everybody Loves Raymond), and a bunch of
other people. Its family dynamic worked well, though, all had great
chemistry. I just feel sorry that all of them had to be in the same
family.
Unexpected turns come up when Ellen's cousin Eddie and cousin-in-law
Catherine (Randy Quaid, Miriam Flynn), last seen in the first
Vacation, decide to take their new RV to the Griswold's. Their
hickish ways don't go over with the "life in the parking lot" ways of
the Griswolds. Quaid is always funny, but Flynn, yet again,
underplays her role.
Clark is expecting a Christmas bonus from his boss, Frank Shirley
(Brian Doyle-Murray). He wants/expects it so much that he bought a
down payment on a pool. Of course, he doesn't have enough money right
now, but once he has his bonus.... I won't spoil the surprise, but
Clark doesn't get exactly what he wants.
The kids Rusty and Audrey are now played by Johnny Galecki and
Juliette Lewis, without real excitement. Before, they had had
their "vices" and personal issues, but with so many people here, it's
hard to focus on them. They also seem to have gotten younger. The
movie isn't as funny as Vacation or Vegas Vacation, but it still
earns high marks for taking a basic "family dysfunction" and making
it original. Who can forget Clark's wild ride down the hill on
his "rocket powered" sleigh? Is there anyone who can't hide the
guilty pleasure laugh when Clark electrocutes a cat? Christmas
Vacation could be called "irresistible".
It couldn't be called a Vacation movie without some unlikely but
touching way of wrapping everything up. This time, Shirley provides
it (who looks a lot like Walley from Vacation), and it worked on me.
The whole point of a movie is to take an unbelievable situation and
make you believe. Christmas Vacation did wonders, making me think
that Chase was an idiot (more so!) and that so many dysfunctions
could happen at once. It's funny, mainly, and enjoyable.
Rater #3
Has Not seen Movie
Rater #4
Has Not seen Movie
Rated PG-13 for language and some crude humor.
Running time: 97 minutes
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