The classic movie is Christmas Vacation, which was written by John Hughes and directed by Jeremiah Chechik. As the holidays approach, Clark Griswold wants to have a perfect family Christmas, so he
annoys his wife and children as he tries to ensure everything is precisely as it should be.
However, things go awry quickly as the entire family arrives at their house for the holiday. He matters worse, Clark's uncouth cousin Eddie and his family show up unannounced and start living in their camper in the Griswold driveway. This year, Clark is counting on his holiday bonus, as he hopes to put in a new pool at the house for his entire family to enjoy.
National Lampoons Christmas Vacation is a quintessential Christmas movie.
It is easily one of the funniest Christmas movies out there with tons of classic lines that still manage to make me laugh each time I watch.
Chevy Chase plays Clark Griswold in the film, and he is just perfect in the role. Clark is simultaneously the comedic straight man, as well as this insane wacky guy, and Chevy Chase just portrays that with ease.
One of the things I love about this movie is just how willing to be dumb it is. There are so many scenes where Clark and the family find themselves in these absurd situations, whether it's the Christmas tree in the beginning, or the sled in the middle, or the squirrel towards the end. It doesn't have to be grounded in reality, or even makes sense, so long as it makes me laugh. They also do it in little ways, like how, for instance, Clark is a food additive designer.
A job that I'm nearly positive doesn't actually exist.
This movie also heavily utilizes slapstick humor, which I feel like is somewhat of a forgotten
art. But this movie just does it so well, and it's so stupid, but so funny through and through. Of course, this movie includes a few of the heartfelt moments that are meant to remind you of the importance of family and what the holidays really all about. But this movie does a good job of keeping them brief enough so that it can get you back
to the comedy as quickly as possible while keeping that nice balance.
I also want to mention how much I love the cool neighbors; Todd and Margo. They're so hilarious in the movie, and every scene with them in it makes me laugh because it puts into perspective how crazy you would feel living next to this family. A fun fact that I learned about this movie is that when Clark is incredibly frustrated about not being able to get those lights to work, he punches a plastic Santa, and Chevy Chase actually broke his pinky throwing that punch. So the next time you watch, you can actually see he just starts clubbing at the lawn decorations after that because he's in actual real pain.
This is without doubt a top to my Christmas movie, and if you have not seen it, I highly encourage you go out and give it a watch and maybe let me know what you think afterwards through your comments.
Christmas vacation is a great watch for the Christmas season. And I typically come back to this one every year around this time because even if it is dated in many ways, it still manages to make me laugh year over year.
