Movie Review – National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
The Griswold family is back for another crazy vacation!
Instead of going cross-country to visit a theme park, or embarking on an all-expenses-paid trip through Europe, this time around the family is spending some quality time at home. It’s Christmastime and Clark Griswold has some wild ideas about how to spend the holiday with his family. It’s not just the immediate family this time. Cousins Catherine and Eddie are back, and this time around we get to meet Clark and Ellen’s parents, too.
Chevy Chase is back in his role as Clark Griswold, along with Beverly D’Angelo playing his faithful wife, Ellen. Supporting them are Juliette Lewis and Johnny Galecki as their children, Audrey and Rusty. Randy Quaid returns as the wacky Cousin Eddie, and Miriam Flynn plays his wife, Catherine. Look for Brian Doyle-Murray playing the role of Mr. Frank Shirley, Clark’s boss, Doris Roberts as Ellen’s mother, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Margo Chester, a snotty and upscale neighbor to the Griswolds.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation was released on December 1, 1989. While parts of the movie are dated and some of the jokes don’t really work because of today’s technology, Christmas Vacation is still regarded as a modern Christmas classic.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – (c) Warner Bros.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation begins with the Griswold family on an expedition for their Christmas tree. On the road Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) gets harassed by some local country boys. Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo) doesn’t want him to provoke them, but he ignores her advice. Clark tries to pass them but gets his station wagon stuck underneath a tractor trailer. Clark escapes but his car crashes into a giant pile of snow at a Christmas tree store.
Clark drags his family through the frozen wilderness as he searches for the perfect Christmas tree. He finally finds it as his daughter, Audrey (Juliette Lewis), is nearly frozen stiff. All seems well until Rusty (Johnny Galecki) asks his dad if he brought a saw. Naturally, Clark forgot it back at home. The family somehow digs the massive tree out of the ground with their bare hands, and then lug it back to their car.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – (c) Warner Bros.
Back at home, Clark’s next door neighbors, Todd and Margo Chester (Nicholas Guest and Julia Louis-Dreyfus) mock Clark and the size of his incredible Christmas tree. Clark ignores them and trims the tree with his chainsaw. We see him cut the ropes and do the dedication of the Christmas tree in their living room. It seems that Clark underestimated the true size of the tree and some trimming is going to be needed. That night, Clark and Ellen discuss plans as all four of their parents want to visit for the holidays. It’s going to be busy in the house, but Clark insists on having a big family Christmas.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – (c) Warner Bros.
At work, Clark discusses the plans for his upcoming Christmas bonus check with his co-worker, Bill. We see that he’s planning on installing a pool in their backyard. It’s a big project and he already had to pay a large down payment, but his bonus should cover that fee and the other costs. The company’s CEO, Mr. Frank Shirley (Brian Doyle-Murray), meets with Clark and asks him to do a write up about the food preservative project that Clark has been working on for the past few years. Naturally, Clark is thrilled that the big boss is asking for his help.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – (c) Warner Bros.
A few days later the doorbell rings, announcing the dreaded arrival of the grandparents. Clark’s and Ellen’s grandparents are already bickering with each other as Clark opens the front door. Nevertheless, the grandparents are happy with seeing the family, and everybody exchanges pleasant greetings with one another.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – (c) Warner Bros.
After the arrival of the grandparents, Clark spends the day outside putting Christmas lights on the house. It’s a big project, but he’s committed to making it work. Anyway, it’s better than being inside the house with everybody else. Things don’t go smoothly and Clark nearly breaks his neck once or twice, but he eventually finishes the job. That night he assembles the entire family on the front yard to see the Christmas lights. Unfortunately, when he hits the switch nothing happens. The house stays dark. Clark spends most of the night checking and re-checking the work as everybody else is fast asleep.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – (c) Warner Bros.
The next morning Clark sneaks into the attic to hide his Christmas gifts to everybody. He’s accidentally locked when Ellen’s mom closes the attic ladder, not realising that he was up there. The family heads out to the shopping mall as Clark is trapped in the chilly attic. He wraps himself in clothing and spends the afternoon watching old home movies from Christmases when he was a kid.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – (c) Warner Bros.
That night Clark is working on the Christmas lights again, but they’re still not working. Ellen figures out that there’s an electrical switch inside the house that controls the entire outdoor circuit. She turns it on and the house it lit in a brilliant display of white lights. The neighbors are blinded by it and trip and fall over themselves. The area’s power plant needs to switch to auxiliary power to counteract the massive energy draw at the Griswold’s house.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – (c) Warner Bros.
Once everybody gets over the shock of how bright the house looks, Clark goes down the line of relatives and thanks them all for their support. He’s surprised when Eddie (Randy Quaid) and Catherine (Miriam Flynn) are standing there in his yard. Eddie’s POS recreational vehicle is parked in Clark and Ellen’s driveway. Out of it spills more of Catherine and Eddie’s family including two kids, Rocky and Ruby Sue, along with their dog, Snot. We later learn that Eddie’s family is homeless and they are now living in their RV.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – (c) Warner Bros.
Clark starts to grow concerned at work as his Christmas bonus check still has not arrived in the mail. His co-workers haven’t received theirs either. He stays optimistic and hopes that it’ll arrive within the next day or two as Christmas is right around the corner. Later that night, Clark fantasizes about how his new pool would look in the backyard. Visions of his family are replaced by the sexy underwear saleswoman he met at the mall.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – (c) Warner Bros.
The next morning, Clark and Ellen watch as Eddie dumps the RV’s toilet waste into their sewer. Afterwards, Clark takes Eddie out shopping and he buys Christmas gifts for Eddie and Catherine’s kids. Eddie is overcome by Clark and Ellen’s generosity and he hands him their Christmas lists, vowing in return to get Clark a really nice Christmas present.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – (c) Warner Bros.
Clark’s Aunt Bethany (Mae Questel) and Uncle Lewis (William Hickey) arrive that evening, adding even more family members to the household. A variety of problems arise during Christmas Eve dinner from an exceptionally dry turkey to Aunt Bethany’s cat accidentally being electrocuted to Uncle Lewis accidentally burning down the Christmas tree.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – (c) Warner Bros.
The Christmas Eve disasters continue when Clark finally receives his Christmas bonus in the mail. Or rather what he thought was his bonus. Clark goes into a vulgar tirade against his boss when he learns that there was no Christmas bonus this year. It’s the first time in twelve years that he didn’t receive the bonus. Eddie leaves to go pay a visit to Clark’s boss and Clark goes outside to get another Christmas tree.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – (c) Warner Bros.
Clark is still a bit unstable as he takes his chainsaw and cuts down a tree in his backyard for a new family Christmas tree. Things finally calm and the new tree is decorated, but it turns out that the tree has a hidden surprise. A squirrel jumps out of the tree and sends everybody into a panic. Clark and his dad try to trap the squirrel, but their efforts fail and it’s up to Snot the dog. He breaks out of the laundry room and chases the squirrel throughout the house, smashing and wrecking a bunch of ceramics and furniture. The squirrel ultimately runs out the front door and jumps onto Margo from next door. She was going to give Clark a piece of her mind when the squirrel and dog got to her instead.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – (c) Warner Bros.
Ellen thinks it’s best for the relatives to leave and stay in a hotel, but Clark stops them and has another, albeit smaller, tirade. His dad finally talks some sense into Clark, and things clam down. Clark reads A Visit from St. Nicholas to the family as Eddie returns with Mr. Shirley tied up and wrapped in a giant bow.
Clark tries to apologize as Mr. Shirley is freed, but his boss isn’t buying it. He tries to fire Clark and send Eddie to jail. Clark speaks his mind and lets him know how upset he is with his boss on behalf of all the other employees who were also screwed by not receiving their annual bonus. Mr. Shirley has a change of heart and gives Clark not only his usual bonus, but a little bit extra on top of it.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – (c) Warner Bros.
The family is celebrating as the police SWAT team invades their home. They were called there by Mr. Shirley’s wife after Eddie kidnapped him. Mr. Shirley doesn’t press any charges and tells his wife why he was kidnapped. Naturally, his wife and the police chief are both upset with Mr. Shirley and his extremely selfish attitude at Christmastime.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – (c) Warner Bros.
Rocky and Ruby Sue run outside when they see a star twinkling in the sky, thinking that it’s Santa Claus. Clark explains that it’s just a star when Uncle Lewis says it’s really a light from the sewage treatment plant. Uncle Lewis drops his match and the flame hits the vapors coming out of the sewer, causing a big explosion. As everybody is in shock, Aunt Bethany sees the plastic Santa and his reindeer go flying away, so she begins singing the “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation ends with everybody, including Mr. Shirley and his wife along with the police department, having a Christmas celebration inside of the Griswold’s house.
So is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation any good?
For the most part, Christmas Vacation is a good movie filled with plenty of laughs and Christmas joy. This film redeems the Vacation-series of movies and is a decent Christmas movie as a whole.
Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo do a great job as usual in their roles of Clark and Ellen Griswold, and Randy Quaid provides plenty of laughs as the wacky Cousin Eddie. Personally, I don’t like the people playing Audrey and Rusty this time. Juliette Lewis seems too old for the role, and to be blunt, Johnny Galecki is too boring for the role of Rusty. In Christmas Vacation, Audrey is too dark and can’t seem to find any pleasant moods throughout the film. Rusty never gives his father any support and continually acts like he doesn’t want to be anywhere near his family. Both of the kids are rather annoying.
Some of the gags in Christmas Vacation are completely unrealistic and just ruin an otherwise good movie.
- For example, it’s highly doubtful that the family could have dug that massive tree out of the frozen ground with just their bare hands. It’s more likely that they would have returned to the Christmas tree store and rented or borrowed a saw.
- Clark should have easily been able to escape from the attic. A) Attic ladders can normally be extended from inside or outside the attic. B) He could have crawled through the hole when he broke through the ceiling and landed on the bunk bed. There’s no way he should have been trapped in the attic, especially for a few hours.
- In the end of the movie, how would Mrs. Shirley have known where to send the police department? Would Eddie have really told them where he was taking Mr. Shirley? Not even he would have been that stupid.
These are just minor issues with Christmas Vacation, but they’re painful to watch because it’s completely unrealistic. The writers could have written these scenes differently to keep them funny and have the movie be more believable.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – movie trailer
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is a fun, although a bit suggestive, Christmas movie for most of the family. This is the first of the Vacation-series of movies to be rated PG-13 and NOT have any nudity. Do take note that some of Clark’s language is a bit vulgar at times, especially when he’s going through a tirade.
[as an entourage of suits – lead by Clark’s boss – passes by single file]
Clark – “Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, kiss my ass. Kiss his ass. Kiss your ass. Happy Hanukkah.”
——————————–
Ellen – “I don’t know what to say, except it’s Christmas and we’re all in misery.”
——————————–
Ellen – “Oh, Aunt Bethany, you shouldn’t have done that.”
Aunt Bethany – “Oh dear, did I break wind?”
Uncle Lewis – “Jesus, did the room clear out, Bethany? Hell no, she means presents. You shouldn’t have brought presents.”
——————————–
Clark – “Hey, kids, I heard on the news that an airline pilot spotted Santa’s sleigh on its way in from New York City.”
Eddie – [after a pause] “You serious, Clark?”