Christmas is a time for tradition – presents, decorations, carols, and mince pies. But what better tradition to celebrate than the Christmas movie? Join The Hollywood News for the Movie Advent Calendar – a film each day ’til Christmas. For the full Advent Calendar so far, click here.
If nothing else, Christmas is a family event. Even for those who live far away, and barely ever speak, come the festive season they often find themselves travelling great distances to be in company of their kin for those few special days. Even if the end result means sitting around in silence, too full and drunk to move, watching crap Christmas TV specials, it’s still a time that brings families together.
This is especially true for one of America’s favourite families. Forget the Simpsons or even the Sopranos, when it comes to the yuletide season, it’s all about the Griswolds. Whilst many of us will begrudgingly spend Christmas day with arguing parents and screaming nieces and nephews, you can bet that the experienced film fan will gladly make the effort to reunite with the Griswolds at least once during The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.
The film, of course, is NATIONAL LAMPOONS CHRISTMAS VACATION, the ultimate in feel-good festive comedy. Directed by Jeremiah Chechik, CHRISTMAS VACATION feels as fresh as it did way back in 1989. Hilarious, touching, and relevant, the film is a masterclass in seasonal humour, all driven by the brilliant dynamics between the Griswolds and their extended family members.
First and foremost in patriarch Clark, played by Chevy Chase in a career-best turn. Clark is the all-American dad, striving to provide for his family with almost psychotic tenacity. Obsessed with the perfect family Christmases he spent as a boy, Clark will stop at nothing to recreate the magic for his own kids. Whether it means uprooting a Christmas tree so big breaks the windows in his house, draining the local power-grid in order to fully illuminate his house, or breaking the sound barrier whilst sledging, Clark is determined right ‘til the end.
It’s Clark’s desire to host the ultimate family Christmas that sets the story in motion. Whilst he decorates the house, awaits his end of year bonus, and generally gets himself into a whole manner of self-inflicted shenanigans, he has to suffer the presence of his extended family, many of whom have travelled far and wide to share the special day (whether they’ve been invited or not). This is all to the irritation of his smokin’ hot wife Ellen (Beverly D’Aneglo) who, whilst often frustrated by lengths to which Clark will go for the idyllic Christmas, stands by her man no matter how many holes he puts in the ceiling. Then we have the Griswold kids, Rusty (Johnny Galecki) and Audrey (Juliette Lewis) who are never resentful of Clark but could roll eyes in embarrassment for their country.
The biggest laughs of CHRISTMAS VACATION come from Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid), who arrives unannounced with his redneck clan in their mobile home. Broke, uncouth, and downright stupid, Eddie is the last person Clark wants around his dinner table come Christmas day. He’s the kind of man dumb enough to believe that Santa’s been spotted flying overhead (‘You serious, Clark?’); the type of fellow who’d happily dumb a ton of flammable excrement in the public drain without considering the consequences; and perhaps most worryingly, he has a dubious metal plate in head, ensuring that every time his wife fires up the microwave he pisses in his pants and forgets his name for half an hour.
Despite this, the Griswold’s CHRISTMAS VACATION is the ultimate family get together, and an absolute must for the festive viewing. Both Chase and Quaid have rarely bettered their performances here, and are both hilarious from start to finish. The film also comes with some top-notch slapsick – Clark’s tormenting of his odious yuppie neighbours spring to mind, as well as a particularly exciting fight to the death with a squireel.
There’s also good old-fashioned Christmas beneath the surface too – we won’t spoil the end, but the poignant sentimental message comes as a result of Clark’s legendary ‘sack-of-monkey-shit’ outburst and the kidnapping of his miserly boss. Truly a thing of beauty.
Each year Hollywood dishes up a new Christmas comedy to compliment the turkey and mince pies, but there’s few as good as this. So when you’re sitting around this yuletide, bored to death of your family and ready to smash a plate of leftover spouts into their faces, remember, it could be worse. You could be poor ol’ Clark Griswold.
Joy to the world indeed.
