marți, 15 mai 2018

National Lampoon’s European Vacation by John Hughes


National Lampoon’s European Vacation by John Hughes


Is this amusing?
Well, perhaps, but this definitely not Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

In fact, there is some horror humor- if that is an appropriately obnoxious name for it- in an early scene, that is even repeated, which should mean that the makers of this feature liked it very much.
The Griswold family takes part in a televised show, where the winners would get the European Vacation as top prize, if they manage to navigate through the questions asked by the host and beat another family that competes for the same award.

The rather old show host, takes Audrey Griswold, a teenager who might have been sixteen, but looked under age in any case, and embraced and fondled, kissing her- or at least that is what it looked like.

Humor before the age of MeToo?
Notwithstanding the incredibly low standards of the time, this was gross and disgusting!

With this rather terrible start, what can the audience expect?
The other chapters are not really compensating for the embrace against her will; of a teenager by a repugnant older man- was it Bill Cosby?
No, it was not.

The family lands the top prize, in what is a misunderstanding, for they did not know the correct answer to the final question, it was an accident, coupled with the lascivious behavior of the host, who wanted to embrace and kiss Audrey…again!!
The Griswolds fly to Europe and the usual paraphernalia of slapstick comedy, errors and confusions, accidents, stupidity, absurdity and all.
Ellen Griswold is taking a bath in this London hotel and she is relaxing, while her husband, Clark aka Chevy Chase, leaves the bathroom, to be replaced by a stranger, with whom the woman engages in a conversation, thinking this is her spouse- she has her eyes closed- and invites him to join her…in the tub.

At the same time, Clark has entered the wrong room and bed, cuddles with the person that he thinks is his wife and the strange woman is very interested in intercourse and would not let the man out of bed, when he wants to leave, after he has realized his blunder…
On the streets of London, the American family drives the car with difficulty, seeing as they have to do it on “the wrong side of the road”, and they run into a cyclist played by the member of the

Best Comedy Group Ever- Monty Python
This is Eric Idle

Alas, the presence of this legend in this lame comedy does not spice it enough to forget the modesty, lack of luminous, intelligent material in this motion picture, even if we meet him again, in a fountain in Rome.
There are car chases and the usual “funny” wrecking of tables, chairs, flowers and street furniture, together with a Citroen that is stuck in a narrow street.

In conclusion, this is a forgettable, uninspiring film.

The National Lampoon’s Vacation seemed better and it is reviewed here:



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