There’s never been a family captured on film like the Griswolds. Their kids change ages and appearances regularly, extended family is always nearby, and their vacations never quite end up as imagined by Clark W. Griswold. Christmas Vacation provides the highest entertainment value of the four Vacation efforts, largely due to how easy it is to relate to the situation.
First-time director Jeremiah S. Chechik takes a John Hughes script and turns it into a masterpiece of comedy, a rare film in the National Lampoon series with heart. Even the credit sequence is great, a nice nod to the classic animated holiday movies of old. It’s a film that never once stops providing laughs.
Chevy Chase of course leads the way, just trying to keep the peace. He not only provides some great physical comedy, but you can just read his face as the frustration slowly builds to his eventual (and highly entertaining) meltdown. His reactions, particularly to a store clerk and Cousin Eddie, make for some priceless holiday moments. He also is adept at handling a touching moment as he explains Santa to Cousin Eddie’s daughter.
Eddie (Randy Quaid) and his kin do steal the show. Yes, there are plenty of laughs before this point, but there isn't a person out there who doesn't have an Eddie in their family somewhere down the line. His clueless one-liners are delivered in such a way that you have to play the line over in your head once or twice just to make sure you heard it right. It's not that he is hard to understand, but the comments are unbelievably off base.
Made in 1989, it's pretty amazing to see just how far some of the supporting cast has come. Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays the rich, snobby neighbor, Juliette Lewis plays the third generation Audrey Griswold, and Doris Roberts has a hand as Ellen's mother. Sadly, no matter how good they are, it creates the movie's biggest problem.
As the film moves along, it seems like a new character is added in every 20 minutes. You want to see more of everybody, but for a standard 90-minute time frame, there are way too many people crammed in here. You can't even determine how some of them are related to the family. Aunt Bethany and Uncle Lewis are the true tragedies, providing some of the film’s strongest laughs, though only in minor roles.
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