Movie Flashback: NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION(1989)

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   NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION is a holiday staple in my household. It's a film that we are certain to watch at Christmas time no matter what is going on in the world around us.
CHRISTMAS VACATION is one of the rare comedies that is consistently funny all the way through. There is a laugh or two (or three) to be found in every scene. Most comedies today fail to be consistently funny or even funny at all, resorting to profanity-laced and crude, gross-out gimmicks to get a laugh. Let's focus on the movie in question.
 Check out the cast. Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo reprise their roles as Clark and Ellen Griswald. You will be hard-pressed to find another comedy duo that captures the chaos of married couples raising a family. The children, Audrey (Juliette Lewis) and Rusty (Johnny Galecki), capture perfectly the embarrassment of having a father who will go the edge of insanity to provide a perfect life for his family. In this case, Clark does his best (or worst) to bring his family, and extended family, the perfect Christmas. I could go on about the cast.  It is one of the perfect casts assembled for a comedy in recent years. Who can forget Randy Quaid as Cousin Eddie?
  The story brought to you by John Hughes, the master of teenage movies and some other memorable comedy classics (Home Alone, Uncle Buck, Ferris Bueller's Day Off) centers around Clark Griswald (Chase) trying to provide the best Christmas ever for his family. Obstacles abound when his parents and in-laws show up to join in the joys of Christmas togetherness. Cousin Eddie and his family show up unexpectedly and uninvited to provide even more laughs and dysfunction.
  One problem with Christmas Vacation is that the comedy can be crude and slightly inappropriate at times, making it not watchable for the entire family. I will say that the crude and sometimes inappropriate comedy found here is 1,000 times better than the crud that is made today. That's my opinion that is sure to be argued.
  If you have somehow never seen NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION, do yourself a favor and a time out from your busy Holiday chaos to watch the master of dysfunctional family antics, Clark Griswald, bring his family the best Christmas since Bing Crosby danced with Danny Kay in White Christmas. 

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