Review of Vacation (2015) by Preciouskiki — 01 Aug 2015

• PROS: Wonderful cast, and everyone is funny and sometimes even a little bit touching. Ed Helms is just naturally likable and very funny. His Rusty character has a good heart and isn't afraid to show his vulnerabilities to his wife, and that adds to the movie's charm. Christina Applegate is spot-on perfect as the wife and is also very funny. I loved the characters of the older son (Skyler Gisondo) and Rusty's sister Audrey and her husband (the always-wonderful Leslie Mann and Chris Hemsworth). Charlie Day is very funny as the white-water rafting guide. The references to the original movie are also clever, and it was good to see Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo.

• CONS: I really could have done without the scatalogical humor. Too much vomit and feces humor. If you want to throw in a touch of that stuff to appeal to modern audiences, OK, I can handle it, but this movie does go overboard with that stuff. It goes on too long, and I had to look away. With a cast as immensely talented as this one, you don't NEED to resort to that kind of bathroom humor. Although it was great to see Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo, their characters deserved better writing. Same thing goes for the youngest son Kevin (Steele Stebbins). They made him too unlikeable and foul-mouthed. It's not that I mind the curse words, because I swear like a sailor, but if you're going to have those words come out of a little kid's mouth, it should be funnier.

• THE UPSHOT: If you go into it with moderate expectations, you will probably enjoy it. Don't believe the people who are giving it really bad reviews. I've seen better, but I've seen worse. I'd like to see Ed Helms and Christina Applegate in more movies, as they are both very entertaining performers.