National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)

National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)

The Griswold family's cross-country drive to the Walley World theme park proves to be much more arduous than they ever anticipated. The first film in the Vacation comedy franchise stars Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold, an ad exec who becomes consumed with taking his family cross-country to Wally World, a California amusement park. Less a vacation than a descent into a peculiarly American kind of hell, the Griswolds suffer through an endless series of catastrophes, culminating in a run-in with the law. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Rating: R (adult situations/language, nudity)

Genre: Comedy

Directed By: Harold Ramis

Written By: John Hughes

In Theaters: Jul 29, 1983 Wide

On Disc/Streaming: Aug 27, 1997

Runtime: 98 minutes

Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Half-baked but occasionally hilarious, National Lampoon's Vacation gets a reasonable amount of mileage out of depicting the disaster-prone journey of a "typical" family of four, the Griswolds of suburban Chicago. National Lampoon's Vacation is an enjoyable trip through familiar comedy landscapes. Despite plenty of gross-out gags and dumb slapstick bits, the careful viewer can occasionally detect some acrid and original satire in this 1983 film. It's a pleasant diversion with a few memorable bits and a likable cast, but true comic invention is hard to locate in the meandering screenplay by the late John Hughes. The result is a confident humor and throwaway style that helps sustain the laughs of which there are quite a few. Director Harold Ramis, who went on to make Groundhog Day, keeps the silliness coming at a fast and furious pace.

"Vacation" is the dream film that everyone wanted from Chevy Chase (especially me). He livens any film that he is in, from his facial expressions to his snappy dialogue delivery. When the Griswold family sets out on a family road trip to Wall World, chaos ensues as they try to reach their destination. Such a simple story with such greatly written humour and witty dialogue makes this film one to watch over and over again. The cast works great together and you totally buy them as a family. The R-rating really helps the gags feel natural and as if an actual family would be going through these scenarios. In the end, the film was not all about the destination, but the journey to get there, and let me say, it is one hilarious journey. My only complaint about this film is that there are a few moments that seemed to pad out the run time, but aside from that, it is a near perfect comedy for what it sets out to be.

I would give the movie a 3.8/5 . It is a really funny movie #Vacation #Nationallampoon #vigalcollective #Blogging.