Review of National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) by Alexander D — 22 Oct 2011

Not until 2006 (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) has a road comedy even come close to being as great as NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION. It's funny, raunchy, and it spawned a few decent films. (Though VEGAS VACATION was not good.).

Okay, I really do not like "hard-R" comedies at all, and this may actually be a good example of a "hard-R" comedy. But if you overlook the nudity (though the one-scene spoof of both JAWS and the shower scene from PSYCHO is admittedly funny), profanity, and innuendo of NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION, what remains is still a whole lot of good, solid humor. And the good thing about VACATION is that it has all sorts of humor: the immature kind young kids would enjoy (not that they should be watching this uncensored!); the farcical kind that was resurrected less than two decades later in films such as MEET THE PARENTS; the slapstick kind that brings back the memories of Curly, Larry, and Moe (if you don't know who they are, you are probably a miserable low-life--no offense); the racist kind (the scene in which the Griswolds ask for directions in downtown city area, for a memorable example); the absurd/dumb kind (for another classic example, the scene in which Clark Griswold is driving while sleeping); even the gross-out kind and (well, of course) the raunchy kind!

The "Vacation" films are most likely the only National Lampoon films I will ever watch. Maybe ANIMAL HOUSE, but the rest of the company's films (particularly VAN WILDER) are bound to be no match for NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION.