Quick Fire Review.

National Lampoon's Vacation is directed by Harold Ramis. It sees the Griswold family go on a family vacation to a water-park in California via a cross country road trip.
Vacation is a fairly benign road movie. Whilst it doesn't offer anything fresh or original, what the film manages to do instead is maintain a good consistent level of humour throughout. Most of the comedy comes from Chevy Chase as the slightly naive father Clark, who gets all the best moments and punchlines.

The best part of the film is the chemistry between the family. They all feel like they're genuinely part of a family. This is especially the case with Beverly D'Angelo who plays the mother Ellen,…

There was something beautiful and loathsome of a long cross country car trip; the cramped space, the numbing pain on your bottom and legs, the constant bickering with your sibling, the endless view of empty nature, the frequent rest stops, the nightly rest at a motel, the simple and tasty sandwiches, the iconic jams of your parents’ pastime tunes, the exhilaration of closely reaching the ultimate destination, exploring and experiencing something new, the awkwardly forced but warmly nostalgic photographs, the cherished mementos that are picked up along the way, the unprepared spending of emergency materials, the timely gas stops, the breeze that enters into the backseat window, the disagreement in the course of the vacation, and the uneven relationship with…

Driven by a top-of-his-game Chevy Chase, "National Lampoon's Vacation" is a memorably enjoyable beginning to a franchise that would peak two films later. Creating the iconic Clark Griswold, Chase delivers a dad whose place in cinema is defined by a predilection for invoking Murphy's Law and an awe-shucks, regular-guy nature that translates into solid, sometimes giddy comedy.

Loading a four-person brood into the family station wagon, Harold Ramis's film follows the cross-country adventures of Clark and company as they head to the theme park, Walley World, for a much-needed vacation. Beset by issues including backwoods cousins, deceased canines, and attractive blondes, everything that can go wrong does on the way to potential domestic rest and relaxation.

The story works as…

Quick Fire Review.

National Lampoon's Vacation is directed by Harold Ramis. It sees the Griswold family go on a family vacation to a water-park in California via a cross country road trip.
Vacation is a fairly benign road movie. Whilst it doesn't offer anything fresh or original, what the film manages to do instead is maintain a good consistent level of humour throughout. Most of the comedy comes from Chevy Chase as the slightly naive father Clark, who gets all the best moments and punchlines.

The best part of the film is the chemistry between the family. They all feel like they're genuinely part of a family. This is especially the case with Beverly D'Angelo who plays the mother Ellen,…