National Lampoon’s Vacation

by Robbo

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Posted on 15 July 2021

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Rating -

National Lampoon’s Vacation, sometimes referred to as Vacation, is a 1983 American road comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Imogene Coca, Randy Quaid, John Candy, and Christie Brinkley in her acting debut.

The screenplay was written by John Hughes, based on his short story “Vacation ’58” which appeared in National Lampoon.

Clark Griswold (Chase), wanting to spend more time with his wife Ellen (D’Angelo) and children Rusty (Michael Hall) and Audrey (Barron), decides to lead the family on a cross-country expedition from the Chicago suburbs to the southern California amusement park Walley World.

Ellen wants to fly, but Clark insists on driving, so he can bond with his family.

During the family’s travels, they experience numerous mishaps, such as being tagged by vandals in East St. Louis, Illinois. Clark aggravates a bartender in Dodge City, Kansas and is tantalized on numerous occasions by a beautiful young woman driving a flashy red Ferrari 308 GTS.

They stop in Coolidge, Kansas to visit Ellen’s cousin Catherine (Flynn) and her husband Eddie (Quaid), who foist cranky Aunt Edna (Coca) and her mean dog Dinky on the Griswolds, asking them to drop her off at her son Norman’s home in Phoenix.

After stopping at a decrepit and dirty campground in South Fork, Colorado for the night, Clark forgets to untie Dinky’s leash from the bumper before driving off the next morning, killing the dog.

While Ellen and Clark argue during a drive between Utah and Arizona, they crash and become stranded in the desert near Monument Valley. Clark and Rusty have a bonding experience explaining why Clark wants to take this vacation.

Overwhelmed by the mishaps they have encountered during the road trip, Ellen and the children want to go back home, but Clark has become obsessed with reaching Walley World and they continue on.

Despite the family’s misfortunes, they finally arrive at Walley World the next day only to discover the park closed for the next two weeks for repairs. Finally slipping into madness and realizing that all his efforts have been for nothing, Clark buys a realistic-looking BB gun and demands that park security guard Russ Lasky (Candy) take them through Walley World.

After the success of 1980’s Caddyshack, Director Harold Ramis and start Chevy Chase reunite to produce one of the best and most quotable of the screwball comedies of the 1980’s, and it is really Chevy Chases’ film.

He manages to brilliantly and hilariously portray the slow descent into madness of Clark W. Griswold, as his perfect vacation slowly unravels with mishap after mishap until he finally snaps.

National Lampoon’s Vacation is an enjoyable trip through familiar comedic landscapes populated with a host of well known comedy performers.

This film really is a comedy classic which spawned four sequels and a re-boot, definitely worth watching and is on my top 10 list of comedy films.

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