European Vacation
Cast
Chevy Chase as Clark Wilhelm Griswold, Jr.
Beverly D'Angelo asEllen Griswold
Dana Hill as Audrey Griswold
Jason Lively as Russell 'Rusty' Griswold
John Astin as Kent Winkdale, host of 'Pig in a Poke'
Directed by
Amy Heckerling
Rater #2 has description and review.
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #2
6/10. "Pig in a Poke" is the newest game show in the US. Families dress up
in pig costumes and answer questions. At the end, they can be pigs
and win a great prize. And who's starring on it? Why, none other than
our favorite family the Griswalds (spelled differently in this one
than the others)! After a close competition with resident champions
the Froegers, they win a European vacation. Audrey (Dana Hill)
doesn't want to leave behind her boyfriend Jack (William Zabka), and
Rusty (Jason Lively) just doesn't want to go. They do, reluctantly,
but this two week vacation doesn't go without a hitch.
2nd released in the series, and usually considered least of the
series, which I go with. Simply, it's not as funny as the others:
Vacation, Christmas Vacation, and Vegas Vacation. It tries to be more
raucous and irreverent than the others. It doesn't have a central
grasp on any one plot. They go across Europe, but there's nothing
that connects all of the destinations. For instance, in Vacation
there was Aunt Edna; Christmas Vacation, it actually had a real plot,
and in Vegas Vacation there were a few subplots, but they all went
through.
All that isn't to say that it wasn't funny, it's just not as funny as
the other three. As heard from Chevy Chase on the subpar DVD
commentary, he wishes to do another Vacation movie. I would like to
see that. Many of the laughs came from slapstick and pratfalls, which
aren't my favorite types of humor. Some of them were predictable
(they go to Stonehenge�guess what?), but some of the gags (like on
the train to Rome) were nice.
The MPAA wrongly gave this movie its PG-13 rating. It most definitely
should have been rated R. The writers, which include veteran John
Hughes, must have tried to keep the humor in the PG-13 range, because
they didn't "rough it up" as much as they wanted to.
One last thought: if there was an earlier movie version of Chicago,
Beverly D'Angelo would have been perfect as Roxie.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #5
Has Not Seen Movie
Rated PG-13 for sustained scenes of nudity, sexual situations, teen
drinking and language.
Running time: 95 minutes
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