National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) Warner Bros./Comedy RT: 97 minutes Rated PG-13 (language, slapstick violence, sexual humor/content, gross humor) Director: Jeremiah Chechik Screenplay: John Hughes Music: Angelo Badalamenti Cinematography: Thomas E. Ackerman Release date: December 1, 1989 (US) Cast: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid, Miriam Flynn, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, E.G. Marshall, Doris Roberts, John Randolph, Diane Ladd, Mae Questel, William Hickey, Cody Burger, Ellen Hamilton, Sam McMurray, Brian Doyle-Murray, Nicholas Guest, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Nicolette Scorsese, Natalia Nogulich, Alexander Folk. Box Office: $71.3M (US)
Rating: *** ½
Spending time with the family during the Christmas holiday is as traditional as drinking eggnog and kissing under the mistletoe. HOWEVER, if the family in question happens to be the Griswolds, you might want to consider creating a new tradition. This is the same bunch whose family vacations turned into disasters of epic proportions. Wait until you see what they do to the most wonderful time of the year in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
Much to the relief of the sane public, well-meaning idiot Clark Griswold (Chase, Fletch) has decided to spend Christmas at home this year amongst his extended family. He’s invited the whole brood to spend the holidays at his suburban home. Of course, it’s a catastrophe just waiting to happen. He’s completely oblivious to the fact that his idea of “a good, old-fashioned family Christmas.” isn’t going over so well with his long-suffering wife Ellen (D’Angelo, Coal Miner’s Daughter) and perennially embarrassed children, Audrey (Lewis, Mixed Nuts) and Rusty (Galecki, The Big Bang Theory).
Things start off with a bang as Clark drives his family to the country to chop down the perfect Christmas tree. The fact that he brought neither axe nor saw isn’t going to spoil his fun. He simply digs the tree out of the ground and takes it home, roots and all. Never mind that it’s too big to fit in the living room. Considering the destruction that ensues, he should have taken a cue from Charlie Brown.
Then the family arrives, his parents Clark Sr. (Randolph, Prizzi’s Honor) and Nora (Ladd, Wild at Heart) and her parents Art (Marshall, Superman II) and Frances (Roberts, Everybody Loves Raymond). It’s crowded enough that Audrey and Rusty have to share a bed. Talk about a disturbing childhood memory.
Meanwhile, Clark is fretting about his yearly Christmas bonus from work. He still hasn’t received it and has already placed a hefty down payment on an in-ground swimming pool. A couple of unexpected, uninvited and unwanted guests show up one night, good old Cousin Eddie (Quaid, Kingpin) and his family, wife Catherine (Flynn, National Lampoon’s Class Reunion) and two of their children, Rocky (Burger, Heavyweights) and Ruby Sue (Latzen, Fatal Attraction). If you looked up “white trash” in the dictionary, you’d see a picture of Cousin Eddie smiling back at you. They show up in an ugly RV with their messy dog and park it right in the driveway. What was it that Oscar Wilde said about wishing and caution?
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is one of those comedies where everybody has their favorite scenes. This movie is full of funny moments as Clark tries to give everybody a Christmas to remember. Almost everybody puts Christmas lights on their house, but only Clark would put up enough of them to force the power company to turn on the auxiliary nuclear generator. That’s after he nearly causes a citywide blackout. It’s funny, but not nearly as funny as the pain and punishment he heaps on their obnoxious next-door neighbors, a pair of arrogant, materialistic yuppies named Todd (Guest, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) and Margo (Dreyfuss, Seinfeld). Believe me when I say they deserve everything he unintentionally does to them.
A sledding trip almost becomes deadly after Clark sprays an untested non-stick cooking spray to the bottom of his saucer. He goes flying at top speed down the hill, across the highway and right into Wal-Mart’s parking lot. Cousin Eddie stands on the front lawn in his bathrobe emptying the toilet announcing to the neighbors “S***er was full!”. Of course it wouldn’t be a Vacation movie without Clark having a complete meltdown and going into one of his infamous profanity-laced tirades, this time it goes like this:
“Hey! If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I’d like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey s*** he is! Hallelujah! Holy s***! Where’s the Tylenol?”
And a few moments later:
“Where do you think you’re going? Nobody’s leaving. Nobody’s walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We’re all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We’re gonna press on, and we’re gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny f***ing Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he’s gonna find the jolliest bunch of a**holes this side of the nuthouse.”
Every time I hear Clark going off like that, I can’t help but think of my own father and his frequent explosions during the holiday season. The only thing missing is Clark screaming at his wife because he can’t find any damn extension cords.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is a very funny movie for the most part, but some dramatic elements manage to sneak into the mix like when Clark learns Cousin Eddie has lost his house (that’s why they live in the RV) and can’t even afford to buy presents for his children. But the funniest moments belong to Clark. He really is a stupid ass. Whether he’s playing dangerous road games with a couple of dim-witted rednecks, making a bumbling fool of himself in front of an attractive lingerie salesgirl or getting emotional about his elaborate light display and some old home movies, Chase makes Clark both a clown and a sympathetic figure. The man loves his family and will do anything to give them a merry Christmas full of wonderful memories no matter what gets destroyed in the process.
Quaid is hysterical as big-hearted but soft-brained Eddie. He means well, but he’s completely oblivious to the fact that he’s about as sophisticated as a farm animal. The late Mae Questel, who also provided the voice of Olive Oyl in the Popeye cartoons, is a scream as the doddering octogenarian who “couldn’t hear a dump truck driving through a nitroglycerin plant.” When she’s asked to say grace before dinner, she replies that Grace (whoever that is!) has been dead for 30 years. When she finally understands, her version of grace is truly unique.
It’s weird to see Juliette Lewis and Johnny Galecki so early in their careers. It’s hard to believe she’d be nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar (for Cape Fear) a couple of years later and Galecki would become a cast member of one of the most successful sitcoms in the history of television, The Big Bang Theory (2007-19).
I didn’t like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation when it first came out. It just wasn’t that funny to me at the time. Over the years, I’ve developed a real affection for it. The situations keep getting funnier every time I watch the movie. It’s not a perfect movie, but it gives the viewer the greatest gift of all, the gift of laughter.
