Review of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) by Ben L — 17 May 2012

This is, without question, the funniest holiday movie I've ever seen. It carries on in the tradition of the prior Vacation movies, and offers loads of laughs. Of course it does take a certain sense of humor to enjoy it. There are a lot of silly physical gags that are just ridiculous, but if you like that kind of stuff it is great. More than anything, though, it's the crazy situations that offer the big laughs.

It's kind of strange because generally I hate films where the humor is supposed to be found in the fact that nothing goes right for the main character. However there's just something unique about Clark and the way he almost brings it on himself. His over-zealous journey to have the perfect holiday is frequently the reason for his own misery. This somehow makes me comfortable laughing at his ineptitude and the way the entire world falls apart around him.

Of course this, like every other National Lampoon film, is no family affair. They do delve into Clark's sexual fantasies a little too much, and when things fall apart his language is quite foul. The warning seems more necessary here because it comes across as a story about a family Christmas gone wrong, which it is, but this family isn't the Cleavers. However, with the right audience, Christmas Vacation is a hilarious holiday film and is probably the second best of the Vacation series.