National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation by John Hughes Seven out of 10

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation by John Hughes

Seven out of 10

If not exhilarating, this comedy still has some very good moments and an excellent cast- Chevy Chase, teenage Juliette Lewis, John Randolph and William Hickey – who would partner on another, much better film, Prizzi’s Honor, and last but not least, Julia Louis- Dreyfuss, in a minor, early role.

To begin with, Clark Griswold aka Chevy Chase aka The National Lampoon takes his family to get a worthy tree for his living room, out in the wilderness, where he has a road dispute with some rednecks.

These drive a pickup truck – what else, I have one – and they provoke the alien to a duel, tailgating him, then passing the proud father and husband who would not let this jalopy get in front of him, no matter what.

Hence, he pushes the gas pedal, engages in a dispute, talks highly about his prowess, while a sixteen wheeler truck is first behind and then next to the bad driver, who decides to pass by, only to enter…under the behemoth and expose his family to calamity.

Indeed, it looks like they will perish and they only escape at the last minute, when the car plunges into the sign that advertises the place they wanted, selling the real trees.

Clark spots the right tree for him – one that has something like a halo around, or a light descended from heaven – but when he sets about, coming close to it, his son asks about the chainsaw.

He does not have it.

Next thing we know, the huge, perhaps 25 meters high fir is placed on top of the car, with his roots intact.

At home, he has to place the mastodon in the living room and therefore starts cutting, after talking to his neighbor played by Julia Louis- Dreyfuss and her husband…

“Where will you put this?

Bend over, and I will show you…

I did not mean you….”

Dialogue and scenes are most of the time off the mark and as in the above case, could be obscene, referring to the female character, not the man…

The few good moments come when the National Lampoon starts decorating the house with a billion bulbs that fail to light up, in spite of all his efforts, falling off ladders and causing all sorts of accidents.

Clark becomes a hostage in his attic when his mother shuts the access there and it is freezing cold, so he has to use the only available clothes, found in forgotten cases – some fur – why left there, even in an age where they were not very concerned about killing animals just for the fun of wearing their coats- and other outrageous paraphernalia, violet gloves, I don’t know…pink socks and a ridiculous hat.

When he temporarily lights up his exorbitant, massive array of decoration, the lights of the city go off!

We could even argue that there is an educational message in there, for some may see the useless, wasteful expense of energy involved in such forgettable arrangements.

Then we have the grandparents and their feeble memories, especially grandmother, should be no reason to joke, but some situations are mirthful nonetheless.

They sit at table, in front of a deflating turkey and grandmother is asked to say the prayer on her eightieth birthday:

I pledge allegiance…

Instead of saying the prayer, she starts on something else and some of those present raise, hands on their hearts.

Altogether, this Vacation is not a memorable film, on the contrary, it would be better avoided, the few laughs do not justify the other, more numerous awkward scenes.