Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, and Randy Quaid return to reprise their roles in a third ‘Vacation’ film, this time during the Christmas holiday season. Tomfoolery ensues when Clark Griswold and family attempt to have the perfect family Christmas. There is nice mix of one-liners, physical comedy, and a story that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I think this movie stands alone perfectly. If you had not otherwise been introduced to the other Vacation movies, this works well – maybe almost better.
Holidays always tend to bring out the best (and worst) in family situations, and Christmas Vacation uses many cliché holiday experiences to fuel the laughter. A cold, long walk to get a Christmas tree, decorating the exterior of the house with enough lights to illuminate a small city, antics while shopping at the mall, fun while sledding, and mishaps that result from cooking the Christmas Eve dinner are all highlighted.
The Griswold house quickly fills up with relatives; both sets of grandparents, Cousin Eddie and family, plus later a crazy aunt and uncle show up for the aforementioned dinner. In typical ‘Vacation’ fashion the movie is slow crescendo of craziness ending in Cousin Eddie kidnapping Clark’s boss for stiffing Clark out of his holiday bonus.
Some other elements which add to the fun: the snotty, yuppie neighbors, Eddie emptying his RV’s septic tank into a storm drain early one morning, a cat munching on the Christmas tree lights, the actors playing Russ and Audrey changing yet again, and the tree getting burned down – which triggers Clark to running around with a chainsaw (if you can picture that one).
Fun facts: the studio execs wanted the cat munching the xmas tree lights scene cut, but the producer begged to keep it in. The test groups found audiences loved it, and noted it was one of the most funny, memorable scenes… the movie ends on Christmas Eve; it never actually made it to Christmas Day… Clark used 30 different words to describe his boss during his insane rant after finding out he did not receive a Christmas bonus check…
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