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National Lampoons ChristmasProducts Relating to 'National Lampoons Christmas'

What About National Lampoons Christmas Vacation?

National Lampoons Christmas Vacation centres around the Griswold family as have the other national lampoon films. This time, the family have settled down at home and Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) decides they should have an old-fashioned Christmas. To this end, he takes his family on a day's drive so they can collect a Christmas tree from the wild.

He is an everyman who wants his family to experience love, even if they don't realise its importance. To this end, he invites the entire extended family to celebrate the holiday at his home. This is when the fun, and the mayhem, begin.

Everything seems to go wrong with the festive holiday. Clark has 25000 Christmas lights on the roof but they won't go on. The Christmas tree is too tall. The turkey explodes on the dining room table. A SWAT team take siege outside. Chevy shakes the Christmas present in which a feeble-minded Aunt Bethany has boxed up the pet cat.

As the festive holiday progresses, Clark realises that more is not merrier. His typically obsessive behaviour brings him close to a breakdown. There are also the senile grandparents to cope with. On top of this, the children Rusty (Johnny Galecki) and Audrey (Juliette Lewis) really couldn't care less about the whole occasion. As well as this Eddie (Randy Quaid) has brought his snot-nosed family along for some holiday smooching.

This festive holiday film is a roller-coaster ride of hilarity, poignancy, vulgarity and dumbness. Things are never dull. Perhaps it would have been better if the film had maintained a more consistent level of humour. As it is, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation has some bleak and depressing moments. It plays on both the heartstrings and the horror. In a week, Clark sees his family fall apart, is attracted to a crazed squirrel and finds that his boss has been kidnapped by Eddie.

This film is the most family friendly of the series even if it shows the cruel blackness of life. It makes us reflect on family, love, goodwill, belief in one's self, and so on. The film is so good because, in it, we see so much of our own family. There are pushy parents, annoying grandparents and unwelcome uncles.

Chevy Chase is superb as the family man gone a step too far whereas Randy Quaid portrays a super dumb cousin Eddie but someone who is full of heart. Beverley D'Angelo plays Clark's passive wife.

The film has many memorable moments and is one that can be watched time and time again.

Article Published: Monday 29th January 2007