Every year, my family (my Mom and Dad, my brother and I), went to see a special ‘Christmas Movie.’ It was a tradition that my mother invented when we were young. I think the first one we ever saw together was A Christmas Story, (1983) and it was so funny, we expected to have the same fun every year. I guess it set the tone for the future! I can’t remember laughing so hard at one of our ‘Christmas Movies’ until we went to see Christmas Vacation in 1989. I remember I was 18 years old and ready to go off to University, and I enjoyed watching my father laugh hysterically while we all watched this Chevy Chase classic.

Clark Griswald (Chase) is a true family man. He wants to make every holiday and vacation absolutely perfect. He has an idea, in his mind, of what the perfect Christmas should entail. This year he is looking forward to his bonus cheque because he intends to buy his family a in ground swimming pool. His parents and his in-laws are coming to bask in the Christmas Season, and his wife Ellen, (Beverly D’Angelo) and his children Rusty (Johnny Galecki) and Audrey (Juliette Lewis) are secretly (or not so secretly) dreading their father’s holiday spirit.

While waiting for the big day to arrive, Clark prepares his home. He decorates every square inch of the outside with dazzling lights that blind the whole neighbourhood. He insists on going to cut down a real Christmas tree, which of course is giant and filled with furry creatures that one wouldn’t necessarily want in the house. He is a nuisance to his yuppie neighbours, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and Nicholas Guest, who definitely add to the hilarity. There are also tender/funny moments. At one point Clark gets stuck in the freezing attic and watches old home movies while the tears roll down his cheeks. And of course, there is the infamous visit from Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) who brings along the mobile home and empties out the toilet into the sewer at the front of Clark’s home.

The point to the movie, family is family, and no matter how special and perfect you want them to be, it just doesn’t happen. After one hilarious debacle after another, we see what becomes of Clark’s perfect Christmas and we find out if his bonus cheque will come to buy the perfect swimming pool.

Appearances in Family Vacation include characters played by all stars like Dianne Ladd, John Randolph and E.G. Marshall. If you’ve seen this movie, you’re sure to remember the aunt who was asked to say grace as she had turned eighty years old that year. (Remember, the one who wrapped up her cat and put kibbles and bits in the green jello??) An interesting fact about Mae Questel (Aunt Bethany) was that she was actually eighty-one when she played the role, and she died of Alzheimer’s disease in 1998 when she was ninety-one years old. I loved her character, like I loved many of the memorable characters in Christmas Vacation.

If you’re looking for a Christmas movie to put you in the spirit, or just a hilarious comedy that will surely make your sides hurt with laughter, you should see Christmas Vacation. I would hope the likelihood of not already having seen this movie is fairly small! This is a sure fire classic, and every family can watch together and laugh. Despite a few cuss words here and there and some adult content, I would say that this is a solid PG-13 flick that everyone should own on DVD. I watch this every year, and think of the time that I went to see it with my family in 1989. And, I always smile at the way it made my Dad laugh.

5 stars


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older