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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