National Lampoon's Vacation

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For yours truly, there really is no better 'National Lampoon's Vacation' movie than the third in the series, 'Christmas Vacation', which can be watched every single year without hesitation around the holiday season. For as much as people tend to agree with me on that, however, it does get interesting when it comes down to what order people place the other films in terms of quality. For my money, I probably have to give it up to the original that started it all.

For many, this first entry is pretty basic and bland. To be perfectly honest there's not a whole hell of a lot that happens here. But what it does do well is examine the family vacation scenario, and give us a comedy based on all of the faults of a family road trip. Really, it works the same way as 'Christmas Vacation', which highlights all of the downfalls of an old-fashioned family Christmas. 'European' and 'Vegas' take things to different levels, and they're entertaining enough, but there's something almost missing in them about the relatability of the family dynamic in the situation. As far as 'Christmas Vacation 2' and 'Vacation' 2015, as far as I'm concerned, they aren't a part of things, just like 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' for Indiana Jones, or everything straight to video for 'American Pie'.

'Vacation' is, simply enough, about Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) wishing to spend more time with his wife, Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) and kids, Rusty (Anthony Michael Hall) and Audrey (Dana Barron). This is probably a good time to mention to those more familiar with Johnny Galecki and Juliette Lewis in the respective brother/sister roles that indeed, these kids change every time. Anyway, the plan is for a cross-country trip from Chicago to Southern California, seeing plenty along the way, and finally ending up at Walley World for their final destination. In the real world, it would be kind of like travelling to Disneyland. But of course, as one can predict, what starts off as a fun family road trip soon turns into a nightmare of constant disappointments and failures.

Some of these include Clark being tempted by a mystery woman (Christie Brinkley) driving a Ferrari, getting vandalized in a bad neighbourhood, a visit with good old Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid), his wife, Catherine (Miriam Flynn), their somewhat twisted children, Vicki and Dale (Jane Krakowski and ​John P. Navin Jr., respectively) and the hilarious Aunt Edna (Imogene Coca) and of course, for anyone who has seen the film, the big punchline towards the end that probably isn't even really a spoiler anymore, but it's kind of what makes the movie worth checking out in the first place. The whole film, again like 'Christmas Vacation' is here to say "you're not alone on all these crazy family mishaps".

Despite it being on the older side of classic comedies at this point, I think there's still a relatability to a movie like this that can't really be denied. AGAIN like 'Christmas Vacation', there's just something along the line here that will pop up having the audience say "been there", even if the film is portraying something a little more extreme. Do bear in mind though that this is still R-rated, and not exactly a family film (although I can't say this is anything "hard-R") so it's a little edgier than the other three. But with that said, sometimes edgy is a good thing, and this is a pretty good example of such a thing for its time. If you're looking for a good, classic road trip comedy, this is definitely a good place to look.

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