Rusty VACATION
National Lampoon's Vacation series has been dead in the water for years, but it had a significant effect on pop culture during its heyday. This is primarily due to the fact that star Chevy Chase finally found a role that suited his, um, comic gifts. Usually known for playing the hip smartass, Chevy's turn as the clueless Clark Griswold was perfectly suited to the eternally-stupid expression on his face. Of the three major films in the series, Christmas Vacation goes down easiest. It has some insightful gags, Chevy tones down some of his shtick, and co-star Randy Quaid gets some hilarious screentime as Clark's low rent brother-in-law Eddie. By comparison, the original Vacation has not aged well; is there anyone that really thinks a car running off the road is all that funny?? Regardless, the original film is considered a classic for its time. And now comes the inevitable reboot. Coming Soon tells us that the new untitled film will follow Clark's son Rusty as he basically redoes the plot of the first film, namely, Rusty takes his own family on a trip back to Wally World. No word yet on who would play Rusty in the new film; the character was played by different actors in each movie, most notably Anthony Michael Hall in the original. I doubt if he has much else to do these days. New Line is also hoping to snag Chase and Beverly D'Angelo to appear in cameos as bumbling grandparents. The whole idea reeks of creative desperation, an early warning sign that this film has little to offer. Hopefully they won't be recycling the jokes, which would definitely not equate with the tone of some of the most successful comedies of recent years.