When Christmas is around the corner, there is a buzz in the
air. Plans are made, wishes are exchanged and smiles are ever present. It is a
season to be spent surrounded by family members and other near-and-dear ones
who care about you. Everyone is happy and very little can go wrong because the
general mood is that of merriment. But what can go wrong will go wrong. That is
the premise of the National Lampoon film Christmas Vacation.
Clark is the patriarch of the nuclear Griswold family. His
parents and in-laws are to visit his house for the holidays and he plans to
throw the best possible celebration for the benefit of his family. He gets his wife
and children involved by dragging them off to the countryside to chop down and
bring back a Christmas tree in the hope that it will bring the authenticity of
Christmas to the family and draw them closer together. His efforts carry on as
he decorates the exterior of his house with 25,000 lights and places an order
for a swimming pool to be installed in his backyard as a surprise gift for his
family. Unfortunately, he does not receive the expected Christmas bonus to
cover the expenses of the swimming pool, the decorative lights do not seem to
work and the Christmas tree is a disaster. To add to the tension, the family is
unexpectedly visited by Cousin Eddie and his family and the senile Aunt Bethany
and her husband Uncle Lewis which wrecks havoc upon the plans Clark had for
Christmas Eve.
Christmas Vacation was written by John Hughes and directed
by Jeremiah S. Chechik. It was released in the year 1989 and is the third film
in the Vacation series produced by National Lampoon. The film stars Chevy
Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid, Juliette Lewis and Johnny Galecki. It is
a comedy film set to the theme of Christmas.
Although the film is about Christmas with plenty of talk
about family and festivities, the focus of the film is on the dire situations
of the ill-fated protagonist. The situations are bizarre but believable. The
condition goes from bad to worse as the film progresses with Clark becoming
desperate over things not going the way he planned them. His neighbours also
seem to share in his unwanted fate, if not worse. Although it would be assumed
that family is important during the festive season and Clark constantly reiterates
that he wants it to be a special event for his family, he grows increasingly
annoyed and agitated with the antics of his relatives as the film progresses.
His eventual meltdown is hilarious as are the unthinkable situations that get
him there.
Chevy Chase as the protagonist is excellent. He is at the
height of his powers as a humorist and his comedic timing is impeccable. Whether
it is a hot-blooded rant or a nervous mumbling, his ability to deliver his
dialogues as required is quite impressive.
The film is quite hilarious on the whole. It is less about Christmas
and more about unfortunate instants occurring at inconvenient timings. It is quite
a good film but it does not have the warm feeling of the holiday that classic
Christmas films are expected to have.
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