National Lampoonâs Vacation
Among the things that made movie comedies of the 80s better and funnier than any other era was besides the superior writing and character development they had, there was also a penchant to take some chances with the material being used in such a way that certain parts might come off a bit darker than one would expect. Thus was the case with this 1983 release from director Harold (Caddyshack) Ramis with a script by John (Breakfast Club) Hughes. Chevy Chase stars for the first time as Clark W. Griswold, a developer of food additives in the Chicago area who decides to take his family on a cross country road trip to a world famous amusement park in California called WalleyWorld. One of the first things a viewer might notice about Chase is that he is NOT playing one of his trademarked laid back, âwiseassâ characters like Ty Webb, Fletch, or his persona from Saturday Night Live, but rather instead Clark is more akin to your typical, All American, suburban, run of the mill, average dipshit husband and father, the consummate putz whoâs the type to plan every step of the vacation down to the last mile, and Chase succeeds in being absolutely, brilliantly perfect in the role, losing more of his mind and his ego along the way as his best laid plans for the trip start to become completely unraveled and only when he finally does lose it and blow up at his family is Chase at his hilarious best. Matching him every step of the way is the gorgeous Beverly DâAngelo as wife Ellen in what was certainly her best job in the role she would reprise through three sequels. As for the kids, much has been made of the tendency to switch up the young actors who play the roles throughout the series, probably to keep them around the same age each time, but here future star Anthony Michael Hall as Rusty and the beautiful Dana Barron as Audrey are probably the best twosome to ever essay the parts, mostly because they look and feel like REAL average suburban kids (nothing fake about them) much moreso than the prepackaged, hollywoodized performers they got later on. Naturally, the film also features Randy Quaid in his first appearance in the series as the uber redneck Cousin Eddie (whom The Griswolds stop to visit with during the trip), although the character is considerably more toned down and realistic here than the broad caricature that Quaid would play in the later movies, along with Imogene Coca as the obnoxious aunt who insists on riding along (with her vicious dog) on the trip so she can be driven to her sonâs residence, plus Jane Krakowski as Quaidâs casual, pothead daughter with a dirty secret. Other notable actors making cameos include Eddie Bracken, Brian Doyle-Murray, James Keach, Eugene Levy, and Frank McRae. Of course, we also get Christie Brinkley (at the time the most famous supermodel in the world) as the hot girl who rides up from time to time in a Ferrari and flirts heavily with Clark (though itâs debatable as to whether Brinkley is better looking than Beverly D), and finally thereâs John Candy, brought in at the eleventh hour when the filmâs rather bleak original ending tested horribly with audiences and having the entire fate of the movieâs climatic scenes put on his shoulders as the goofy security guard at WalleyWorld who gets taken hostage when Clark arrives to find the park closed and flies into a rage, forcing Candy at gunpoint to go with him and his family on all the rides. Needless to say, Candy does a wonderful, hilarious job, and singlehandedly makes the ending the best part of the movie. And the ending, along with many other examples, is what separates this movie from the pack in the fact that while it may be a comedy about a family traveling cross country, it is NOT a dumb family comedy with a soulless cast and corny humor thatâs only funny to a mentally disabled five year old, but rather a razor sharp, edgy creation that proudly wears its R rating on its sleeve, not afraid at all of both the darker bits and even some daringly hilarious moments that many today would decry as supposedly being âpolitically incorrectâ, but just goes to prove that, well, funny is funny, and whether or not every single person laughs at something doesnât make it wrong (especially today when you have so-called PC humor that nobody laughs at). Of course, a special word needs to be said about the filmâs theme song (and the theme song for the entire series), Lindsey Buckinghamâs Holiday Road, which became as iconic in 80s comedy as the film itself. In the end, an undisputed milestone in the history of cinematic comedy, and one of the greatest achievements of its kind in the 80sâŚ
10/10