7. National Lampoon's Vacation
Before we begin, let me just say a word about the video above: ordinarily, I would post the trailer for the flick (and I'll be doing so for most of the films here), but the trailer was so lame and this video was so well-made that I had to break my own rule in this case. I think you'll like it, too; just be warned that, if you find the F-word offensive, you might not want to watch it (the video includes Chevy Chase's famous "meltdown" scene; said scene is the reason this movie's rated R). I'm pretty sure we're all familiar with the institution that is the family vacation, but, just in case there are some of you who've made it to this point in your lives without partaking in this summer tradition, let me lay it out for you. Every summer, usually during June or July, families all over the world gather into the family station wagon or van and hit the open road, heading for some family-friendly destination; the most popular destination seems to be Disneyland (unless you live in Southern California, in that case, Walt Disney World is the place to go). Ideally, family vacations would be the perfect way to spend a summer; after all, you're taking a trip with the people who love you most. However, being a family doesn't mean that personalities don't clash; while, in everyday life, we spend a healthy amount of time away from our families, therefore saving our familial relationships, on a family vacation, you're with your family all day, every day. Family members inevitably get on each others' nerves; as a result, family vacations are rarely idyllic. No family vacation is as nightmarish, however, as the one that the Griswold family takes in National Lampoon's Vacation, the first (and still the best) in the Vacation series. In the film, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) decides to treat his wife, Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) and his kids, Rusty & Audrey (Anthony Michael Hall & Dana Barron, respectively) to the ultimate summer vacation, trucking them across the country to the thinly-veiled Disneyland clone WalleyWorld. The troubles begin almost immediately, however, starting before the trip does when Clark's new car turns out not to be the one he ordered and his old car is prematurely crushed. The trip only gets worse from there; some of the obstacles the family encounter during their pilgrimage include being forced to drive Ellen's weird aunt (Imogene Coca) and her demon dog to Phoenix (neither of them make it to their destination), having their new car stripped in a black ghetto, running off a closed road ("You must've jumped this thing fifty yards!"), and encountering a surly bartender in Dodge City, Kansas. Things only get worse for them (and funnier for us) when they get to WalleyWorld; finding the park closed when they get there, Clark buys a pistol, takes a park security guard (John Candy) hostage and forces him to give the family a private day in the park, capped off by a visit from a SWAT team and Walt Disney clone Roy Walley (Eddie Bracken). I've never seen a film that better encapsulates what it's like to be cooped up in a car with your family for days, getting on each others' nerves, getting wearier with every day, visiting those relatives that you'd prefer to never see, visiting all those weird tourist traps that one finds scattered along American roadways, and the euphoria that comes with finally getting to your destination (even if it's closed). Although the film's undeniably over-the-top (in the greatest National Lampoon/Mad/Cracked way), it still manages to be identifiable and true-to-life, an amazing feat. I think that one of the reasons that Vacation has always been one of my favorite movie comedies of all time is that it strikes up that balance between real life and cartoonish-ness so well. By the way, another reason to see this film is to see the launch-pad for several major careers. While Chevy Chase was already a star when this film was released (due to Saturday Night Live and Caddyshack, mostly), this was the film that gave Anthony Michael Hall, John Candy, director Harold Ramis, and writer John Hughes their movie careers. Incidentally, not too long ago, I found an interesting little gem online: John Hughes' original short story, "Vacation '58," which inspired National Lampoon's Vacation. For those interested, the story can be found
here.