- Joined
- Nov 15, 2001
- Messages
- 5,321
- Real Name
- Neil Middlemiss
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation:
20th Anniversary Collector's Edition
Studio: Warner Bros.
Year: 1989
US Rating: PG-13
Film Length: 97 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 – Enhanced for Widescreen TVs – 1080p High Definition
Audio: Dolby Digital English 2.0, French 1.0, Spanish 1.0
Subtitles: English, French and Spanish
Year: 1989
US Rating: PG-13
Film Length: 97 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 – Enhanced for Widescreen TVs – 1080p High Definition
Audio: Dolby Digital English 2.0, French 1.0, Spanish 1.0
Subtitles: English, French and Spanish
Release Date: November 3, 2009
Review Date: November 29, 2009
“Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?”
The Film: 3.5 out of 5
National Lampoon has more misses than hits. For every Vacation and Class Reunion (admittedly, a personal favorite), there are Van Wilder’s aplenty to dilute the success pool. Odd then, that the third of four Griswold adventures is such a precise representation of the overall roller-coaster of National Lampoon’s hits and misses. This holiday focused ‘at home’ vacation is rife with rollicking misadventure and mediocre mishaps, addling between hilarity and lackluster with the switch of a scene. It’s a sinking feeling to stumble into such middling humor amongst some genuinely uproarious chaos.
The Griswold family is spending Christmas at home and inviting their extended family (as crazy and odd as they can be) to join in the festive yuletide fun with them, and what follows is a cavalcade of calamity, cretinism, and comedic crudeness in the true tradition of Clark and Ellen, along with there two age defying children, Audrey and Rusty.
Written by the late John Hughes, whose penchant for heart and hilarity yielded mixed results through the years, Christmas Vacation is a four cylinder film firing on just two. The film’s odd pacing, and at times uncomfortable straddling between pratfalls and emotional resonance is dissonant against the natural ebb and flow of comedic segments that even European Vacation tried for. What is mostly amiss here is consistency. Perhaps it is the centralizing of activity around the home where this film comes off the tracks – but the silliness isn’t sustained enough to keep it all ticking along. Consider John Hughes’ incredible warm and funny Planes, Trains, and Automobiles – this solid story, with an abundance of heart, is awash in scene after scene of genuinely hilarious predicaments. That film’s unfailing ability to derive comedy from friction, and play farcical against family warmth is a triumph. That’s what Christmas Vacation ultimately fails to accomplish. A shame since the Griswold family misadventures are rich with possibilities and Chevy Chase can provide his well meaning buffoon, Clark, with all the hopelessness and heart that a solid Hughes script could have supported.
The mix of humor styles is also a little befuddling. There is an almost universal appeal to Clark’s pratfalls, and Beverly D’Angelo’s perfect ‘straight man’ routine is a fine counterbalance, but there is an excess of potty humor that, while I rarely tire of, doesn’t always feel right at home here.
The Griswold Kids are played by Juliette Lewis and Johnny ‘Big Bang Theory’ Galecki. While I miss Anthony Michael Hall’s ‘rusty’, resetting the kids to be played by new actors each time is somewhat of a Griswold tradition, and Lewis and Galecki do their characters justice. The grandparents are played by familiar faces, with John Randolph and Diane Ladd as Clark’s parents, and E.G. Marshal and Doris Roberts as Ellen’s folk. The naughty William Hickey plays Uncle Lewis, Mae Questel (the voice of Betty Boop) is Aunt Bethany, and Randy Quaid and Miriam Flynn resurrect their roles as the ‘trailer trash’ cousin Eddie and cousin Catherine Johnson. The presence of the extended family creates a familiar level of lack of privacy, interference, and familial discomfort that I am sure we can all relate to – but individually, not much good material is distributed amongst that larger family set.
Having noted the film’s faults, it is important to point out that there is still plenty to enjoy with this film. The opening sequence is tonally, and materially, very funny. Clark reminiscing about the holidays while watching old film footage when he is stuck in the attic is surprisingly touching, and, I may be in the minority here, but the prissy ‘modern’ neighbors, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Nicholas Guest are a worthy ongoing element.
When it works, it really does work – and it reminds you that there is a reason you keep coming back to watch it – and why it’s one of the films you cannot help but think of when the holiday tunes start playing and the weather (for those of us not in the warmer winter climates) turns truly cold. But when it missteps, it reminds you why you don’t rush to watch it every year as a tradition.
The Video: 3 out of 5
Presented in 1080p High Definition, with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio enhanced for 16X9, Christmas Vacation is two things distinctly. First, it is distinctly better than the DVD version which I have owned for years, a version that did not present the film in its theatrical ratio and lacked detail. Second, the video presentation of this festive Griswold outing is distinctly disappointing. The image is, for lack of a better word – bland. The colors are mostly muted across the spectrum, and while the level of detail and clarity of image is substantially better than that old DVD version of mine, the entire film – with many opportunities to pop or brightly shine (it is, after all, a movie filled with Christmas lights), just doesn’t seem to have a moment where the image quality fully clicks.
The Sound: 2.5 out of 5
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation comes with a flat Dolby Digital English 2.0 audio option. The jolly holiday songs that frequent the film don’t envelope or bring the speakers to life, and despite being generally clean and clear (dialogue in the center is issue free), the audio doesn’t do much. When Clark (Chevy Chase) is having his ‘no bonus’ meltdown, or getting tongue tied by the beautiful employee at the jewelry counter, you will find yourself in the moment and not concerned with what sounds are or are not coming out of your surround setup, but those few moments aside, the audio quality (or lack of) seems to hang with Griswolds during the 90+ minute runtime.
The Extras: 2 out of 4
This collector’s tin is light on disc extra’s (like a lump of coal in your stocking), and the knick-knack’s that rattle around in the tin aren’t exactly exciting – but they are worth a few minutes of grins, and the hat at least will get a work out this holiday season.
Disc Special Features:
- Commentary by Randy Quaid, Beverly D’Angelo, Johnny Galecki, Miriam Flynn, Director Jeramiah Chechik and Producer Matty Simmons:
- Theatrical Trailer:
Blu-Ray Ultimate Collector’s Tin Items:
- Instant Snow Powder
- Santa Cap
- Holiday Drink Coasters with Favorite Movie Quotes
- “I Survived a Griswold Family Vacation” Button
- Blu-Ray Exclusive: Miniature (reindeer) Mug Replica
Final Thoughts
A substantial element of why I keep coming back to Christmas Vacation is my love for Chevy Chase. The original Vacation and Fletch are two of my favorite comedies, and his bumbling performance on NBC’s Community has helped make that show the absolute stand-out hit of 2009 (and certainly the best new show of the year…sorry Glee fans). Enjoyment of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation will depend greatly on your patience and forgiveness of the film’s faults and comedy dry patches. But despite those faults, it’s still a film I enjoy watching and enjoying.
Overall Score 3 out of 5
Neil Middlemiss
Kernersville, NC
