National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

This review includes full spoilers. Proceed accordingly. For other movie reviews from me, click HERE:

Dusty: Where do you think you’re going? Nobody’s leaving. Nobody’s walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas movie review. No, no. We’re all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here

Rating: PG-13
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Writers: John Hughes
Stars: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, Randy Quaid
Release Date: December 1, 1989 (United States)
Run time: 1 hour, 37 minutes

THE PLOT:

via wiki:

Chicago-area resident Clark Griswold intends to have a great Christmas with his entire family. He drives his wife Ellen and children Audrey and Rusty out to the country to find a tree, ultimately choosing the largest one they can find. Realizing too late that they did not bring any tools to cut down the tree, they are forced to uproot it instead. Clark’s holiday plans inadvertently cause steadily escalating chaos for the family’s yuppie neighbors, Todd and Margo Chester.

When both Clark’s and Ellen’s parents arrive for Christmas, their bickering quickly begins to annoy the family. However, Clark maintains a positive attitude and remains undeterred in his plans. He covers the house’s entire exterior with thousands of lights, which temporarily cause a citywide power shortage once he gets them to work properly.

Ellen’s cousin Catherine and her redneck husband Eddie arrive unannounced with two of their younger children, 6 yr old Rocky and 7 yr old Ruby Sue, and their pet Rottweiler, Snots. Clark and Ellen grow concerned when Rocky and Ruby Sue both express doubts in Santa Claus’ existence, and Eddie later admits they are living in the RV in which they arrived, as he went broke and had to sell their home and land. Clark offers to buy gifts for Eddie’s kids so they can still enjoy Christmas. Soon afterward, Clark’s senile Aunt Bethany and cantankerous Uncle Lewis arrive.

Clark begins to wonder why his boss, Frank Shirley, has not given him his yearly bonus, which he desperately needs to cover the cost of a new swimming pool that he has overspent in advance so the pool can be ready for the following summer. After a disastrous Christmas Eve dinner due to the turkey being overcooked, Aunt Bethany’s cat is electrocuted and Uncle Lewis accidentally burns down the Christmas tree while lighting his cigar. Soon after, a courier delivers an envelope. Instead of the bonus Clark expects, it is a membership in Jelly of the Month club. Facing financial ruin, Clark snaps into a profanity laden tirade and requests, as a last-minute Christmas present, that Frank to be delivered to the house wrapped as a present so he can personally insult him to his face. Clark then cuts down a tree on the Chesters’ yard as a final resort, but when he sets it up, a squirrel living inside runs out and wreaks havoc throughout the house, with Snots chasing after it until Clark is able to let both out of the house. Family members start to leave, but Clark snaps at them to stay, obsessed in not letting Christmas be ruined. Clark’s father talks privately with him, telling Clark that he understands Clark’s desperation to have a perfect Christmas, but he shouldn’t ruin his relationships with his family in the process. Clark apologizes and gathers the family to read them “The Night Before Christmas”.

Taking Clark’s request literally, Eddie kidnaps Frank, who admits to canceling the Christmas bonuses but then reinstates them in the face of Clark’s chastisement. Frank’s wife Helen calls the police and a SWAT team storms the Griswold house and holds everyone at gunpoint. Frank decides not to press charges and explains the situation to his wife and the SWAT leader, both of whom scold him for canceling the bonuses until he reveals his change of heart. The family goes outside when Rocky and Ruby Sue believe they see Santa Claus in the distance. Clark tells them it is actually the Christmas Star and that he finally realizes what the holiday means to him.

Uncle Lewis says that the light is coming from a sewage treatment plant, which reminds Clark that Eddie had been dumping his RV sewage into the nearby storm drain. Before Clark can stop him, Uncle Lewis lights another cigar and tosses the match into the drain, causing a giant gas explosion that sets a Santa’s sleigh decoration afire and launches it into the sky. Aunt Bethany starts singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and everyone joins in as the flaming decoration flies into the distance. The entire family, along with the Shirleys and the SWAT team, go inside to celebrate while Clark and Ellen share a Christmas kiss. Clark is satisfied that he has provided a great Christmas for his family.

My Review

For a lot of Americans, the watching of Christmas Vacation is just as much a part of their family tradition during Christmas as the tree, food, and presents. It is difficult to explain the way that this film resonates with audiences, but the fact that I see the following meme on social media every year might provide a clue:

There is something in this hilarious and absurd holiday descent into madness that makes a lot of American audiences feel seen. In a weird way (maybe it’s the out of place patriotic moments throughout the film), it makes its audiences feel American. The wide cast of characters are just numerous and relatable enough that you can find a counterpart for at least one of them in your own family. I suspect a lot of families have called themselves “the Griswolds” in the decades since these movies were released and in particular that men have been labeled “Cousin Eddie” by relatives. In a story where almost nothing that happens should be personally relatable, everyone present feels like someone I might know and care about.

The thing that really jumped out to me on this re-watch of Christmas Vacation was that in spite of everything, the family never really stopped loving and respecting each other – and in particular they never stopped loving and respecting Clark. If this were made in the present, at some point Ellen Griswold would have completely lost her cool and told off her husband. That never really happens. Even their kids continue supporting their dad throughout the movie – and in particular when the Christmas lights don’t turn on at first. This love for Clark is a cue to the audience that we should love him, too. When Clark eventually cracks and yells at everyone, his dad (John Randolph) calmly talks him down and a few moments later we’re getting a sweet scene of Chevy Chase reading to the kids. So much of the present-day’s cultural dynamics are built around confronting and cutting off the toxicity in our lives, or in not respecting or tolerating crazy behavior, that it’s almost jarring to see a group of people continuing to rally around each other with love, in spite of each other. This dynamic really lets the audience feel a freedom to side with them and laugh with them about what continued happening. It wasn’t just happening to them. It was happening to and with us.

Another thing you really notice on a rewatch today is how many people in this film ended up very famous. The Griswold kids were played by Juliette Lewis and Johnny Galecki – both of whom went on to have very big careers. Doris Roberts (from Everybody Loves Raymond) played Frances. Julia Louis-Dreyfus had a small role as an unlucky next door neighbor of the Griswolds. This was the final on-screen role for Mae Questel (who played Bethany), after a long career that included being the voice actress for the iconic Betty Boop. If you decide to rewatch this over the holidays, there’s an enjoyable “people watching” element in the film now due to where its cast went from here.

All of that said, Chevy Chase is the star of this movie and he is why it works. His take on Clark perfectly walks the line of being a guy who is a little too wound up in general, having good though over-ambitious intentions, and believably losing his cool as everything continues going wrong. This made it possible to believe that his wife and kids really would support him, throughout his madness, and it gave the audience a reason to do the same. The script does a great job of helping this along, too. When things are getting too out of control, Clark gets a one-on-one scene with one of Eddie’s kids worried about not getting presents, or with his dad, or Ellen. We get reminded that Clark is a flawed but ultimately good person who is trying as hard as he can, and Chevy Chase sells us on that. I was trying to think of another TV/film character who reminds me of Clark and the best that I could come up with was Steve Carrell’s Michael Scott, in The Office. In both cases, you have men who are trying way too hard, and in so doing making everyone miserable, but the people around them eventually end up loving and appreciating the effort.

This is a PG-13 film, and as a result this is probably the most family-friendly of the Griswold family movies. That said, before you sit down to enjoy this with your kids, you should be aware that there’s quite a bit of swearing and cursing throughout the film. There is also a scene wherein a cat accidentally electrocutes itself that is played for laughs. If you are sensitive, or have sensitive kids, this might not be the film for you.

I am usually not a fan of “everything goes wrong” comedies, but I laughed a lot throughout this one. It seemed to get funnier as the movie progressed. There was very little “injury for the sake of comedy” in this one (usually a large part of why I don’t enjoy ‘everything goes wrong’ comedies), the pacing of the film was great and never dragged, nearly every line is quotable, and the element of slow-release absurdism really worked for me. All in all, I’m really glad I rewatched this one and I enjoyed it a lot.

Have you seen National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation? If so, what did you think?