Dir: Jeremiah S. Chechik
97 mins
Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, John Randolph, Diane Ladd, E.G Marshall, Doris Roberts, Randy Quaid, Miriam Flynn, Cody Burger, Ellen Hamilton Latzen, William Hickey, Mae Questel, Sam McMurray, Nicholas Guest, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Brian Doyle-Murray, Natalia Nogulich.
A timeless classic, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is a near perfect mix of cartoon violence, slapstick humour and heart-warming levels of Christmas cheer.
The third film in the National Lampoon’s Vacation film series, Christmas Vacation was written by John Hughes, based on his short story in National Lampoon magazine, ‘Christmas 59’.
The film centers around the Griswold family – there is Clark Griswold, the father (Chevy Chase), Ellen Griswold, the mother (Beverly D’Angelo), teenage daughter Audrey Griswold (Juliette Lewis) and Russ (Johnny Galecki, who is now Leonard Hofstadter in Big Bang Theory!!!).
In an attempt to have the perfect Christmas, Clark Griswold cuts down a tree on his own and lights up the entire outside of his house in fairy lights.
Perfection is pretty hard to achieve though and there’s a good few spanners in the works as their extended family turn up for the festivities.
There for the holiday period then are Ellen’s parents (E.G Marshall and Doris Roberts), Clark’s parents (John Randolph and Diane Ladd), Uncle Lewis (William Hickey) and Aunt Bethany (Mae Questel – who voiced Betty Boop in the 1930s) and Cousin Eddie’s (Randy Quaid) family.
With so many people (and animals – there’s a rottweiler and a cat too) in the one house, the perfect Christmas seems impossible to pull off.
Mixing cartoon violence and goofy festive entertainment, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is one to watch and can be enjoyed by everyone.
Consistently funny throughout, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is one of the few comedy films that is genuinely funny for the entire duration – a modern classic.
If you liked this, please read, like and comment on my other reviews here.
I also have a Letterboxd account where I post some short reviews of the most recent films I’ve seen.
And don’t forget to follow my Twitter and Instagram
Siobhan
Shiv's Show 