What a waste of my time!!!

Strong and Moving!

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

I remember renting 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' from a video store back in the late eighties and again in the early nineties (until I figured it was simply more convenient and cost effective to buy a VHS copy and watch it whenever I want). I was young at the time and clearly loved its slightly dumb, cheesy humour (plus I was a fan of the two previous 'Vacation' films, but you don't actually have to have watched either of those to watch this one - you'll just not be one of us who get confused at the repeated new casting of the kids, Audrey and Rusty). However, for some reason, the film didn't survive my eventual binning of my tapes and buying everything again on DVD. Therefore, I was delighted when a popular online streaming service put it on their schedule in time for the festive season.It was only now did I realise how much I must have watched it back when I was young, as I knew the script practically word for word. So, in short, I still loved it and was in nostalgia heaven. And I could almost leave the review there if it wasn't for the fact that I was watching it now with my girlfriend who had never seen it before in her life. She hated it.Therefore, I was sort of forced to re-evaluate it and, although I maintain my love for it, try to see what some people may find wrong with it. Yes, the jokes are dumb. It's sort of like the 'American Pie' of its generation. It's definitely not high-brown entertainment and you have to accept that you're going to be watching a buffoon at work when it comes to the central character, played by Chevy Chase, Clark Griswold. I guess it could be said that some people may simply find him too annoying and stupid to root for.I suppose a few of the gags do fall a little flat and just as many are predictable, but then by now most adults will have seen so many comedy films by now that they can see 'old humour' coming a mile off. There was actually more profanity in this than I remember, including one 'F-bomb' which does mean that the film may be more unsuitable for 'all' the family than I remember.I suppose it's quite tame and, because of its age, has a feeling of being done before. However, I still maintain that, overall, it's stood the test of time reasonably well and should still pick up a few new fans here and there (especially in terms of good/funny Christmas movies). You'll definitely get more out of it if, like me, you have nostalgia on your side, but even my girlfriend had to admit that Randy Quaid was a joy to watch. Although, she still maintained that the (seldom-used) neighbours got all of the best gags!http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/

Despite being a fan of National Lampoon's "Vacation" and "European Vacation" movies, for whatever reason I had not sat down and watched this Christmas edition of the series. I had expectations for high humor coming into the viewing, but was left with the bad taste of a series starting to turn stale.For a basic plot summary, this movie sees Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase), wife Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo), and kids Audrey (Juliette Lewis) and Rusty (Johnny Galecki) hosting "the relatives" for Christmas. This obviously includes Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) and Co. as well. Per the typical formula, everything goes to hell-in-a-hand-basket despite the best intents of Clark.While the first two Vacation-series movies seem fresh and genuinely funny, "Christmas Vacation" seems stale and overbearing (like all the comedy jokes/situations are "reaches"). Sure, there are some legitimately laugh-out-loud moments in the film, but mostly it falls pretty flat.The main reason for the disappointing effort here is the casting changes. Lewis and Galecki, while both proved afterwards to be pretty fair actors in their own right, are terrible for the roles of Audrey/Rusty (key characters that provide so much of the humor in the earlier films). Maybe it was just the fact that the "original" Russ/Audrey can never quite be topped.Thus, while I was hoping for great things from this experience, I can say now that I won't be watching it next Xmas season (or maybe any further out, either). It just fails to capture that quirky sense of humor that its predecessors nailed so succinctly.

I have always been a fan of the 'National Lampoon' movies ever since 1978's classic 'National Lampoon's - Animal House' with the legend that was 'John Belushi'.However, it has to be said that some of the movies are a lot better then others, but even though 'National Lampoon's - Christmas Vacation' only ever gets a 1-Star rating in my TV magazine every year, I have to say that for me it's a guilty pleasure that I consider to be a Classic. Maybe not a classic in terms of the 'National Lampoon's' series, but certainly a classic in terms of classic Christmas movies, as for me, along with 'Home Alone ' ( which is my favourite Christmas movie), 'National Lampoon's - Christmas Vacation' is a movie that is always part of my Christmas tradition.The movie itself has some classic comedy moments, most notably the ones involving a crazy squirrel and a makeshift sled, and you also get to see a very young 'Juliette Lewis' in a supporting role as one of the 'Griswold's' children. This is before she went on to find fame in 'Martin Scorsese' 1991 remake of 'Cape Fear', for which she was Oscar nominated for best actress in a supporting role, which in the end went to 'Jodie Foster' in 'The Silence of the Lambs', but I still feel that say miss Lewis was robbed that year.Anyway, if you want to watch a a Christmas Comedy Classic with plenty of belly laughs, then you can't go far wrong with 'National Lampoon's - Christmas Vacation'.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is just as demented as the other Vacation flicks, which in general are pretty weird to begin with. Stemming from Chevy Chase's off kilter personality, into the antics of the rest of the cast, it's a jumble of jokes that don't always land and are somewhat trapped in an 80's humour bubble, but are also frequently hilarious. Chase plays awkward Clark Griswold, overseeing a chaotic holiday celebration at his home with his wife (Beverly D'Angelo) and kids, including a very young Juliette Lewis, as well as his extended clan, headed up by obnoxious, boorish brother Randy Quaid who assists him in his struggles with his selfish boss. It all flies by in a flurry of silliness, with memorable appearances from Sam Mcmurray, Diane Ladd, E.G. Marshall, Doris Roberts, William Hickey and more. Always a weird and wonderful holiday treat.