Review of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) by Melvin W — 21 Dec 2011

Ellen: I don't know what to say, except it's Christmas and we're all in misery. .

"Yule crack up!".

Christmas Vacation has been one of my favorite Christmas films since I was five or six. When I was little, I watched the movie so many times that the VHS broke. Now, I still watch it every year and it still has the same appeal for me that it did when I was a kid. It still presents a funny and great portrayal of the Christmas holidays, where family comes together and even if it ends in disaster, it's Christmas, so act happy.

Clarke Griswold has his entire family at his house for a good old fashioned family Christmas. There are endless slapstick scenes and nothing that Clarke does goes right. There's a cat that is burned alive, a squirrel that terrorizes the family and an over done turkey, to name a few of the things that go wrong. Still, Clarke tries to fight through it and make a good Christmas for his family.

This, to me, is still the definitive Christmas comedy. It is a classic and while movies like Elf can be mentioned when talking about the best of the Christmas comedies, this is still king. It mixes dumb slapstick with holiday symbols very well. The greatest example of this to me is when Clarke takes his family to get a tree and when they get there they don't have a saw. So he has to dig it up, roots and all. .

While it isn't great filmmaking, it is fun holiday entertainment. Chevy Chase isn't an actor, but an entertainer. While, he only had a few good movies in his career, this one stands out as the best in my opinion. He is helped by a good supporting cast of characters. You got to love Grandma reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at the dinner table when she is supposed to say grace.

Audrey: Would it be indecent to ask the grandparents to stay at a hotel? .