T h e N o
t R e a d y F o r C y b e r t i
m e W e b S i t e
It's Christmas, and we're all
in misery!
As the unsinkable Clark Griswold of
"National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," Chevy Chase survives a
holiday season that would try Job's patience. His dreams of "the
most fun-filled old-fashioned family Christmas ever" soon give way
to the realities of bulbs that won't light and a pine that's too big
for the living room. Never mind. Clark's faith in family tradition
is Rockwellian, his spirits up there with the mistletoe. When the
yule log smolders and the turkey explodes, this avowed family man
counts his blessings, such as they are.
Producer John Hughes, who also wrote
this newest chapter in the life of the Griswold family --
long-suffering Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) and teenagers Rusty (Johnny
Galecki) and Audrey (Juliette Lewis) -- definitely has a way with the
foibles of parenthood. Whether it's "Uncle Buck" or "Mr. Mom" or the
booby-footed Clark, Hughes has found an irresistible formula in
fatherly ineptitude. Although newcomer Jeremiah S. Chechik directed
"Christmas Vacation," it will prove pater-familiar to fans of the 1983
original and the "European Vacation" sequel. Only it's a bit more
whimsical.
Chase presides amiably over this uneven
but affable slapstick comedy, a decked-out domestic caper that both
celebrates and debunks ye olde yuletide chestnuts. Here, loving
grandparents grouse about their hemorrhoids before a roaring TV set,
while a cousin's dog, Snots, spills garbage over the glistening
kitchen floor. The kids fuss about sharing their rooms with the
relatives. "It's Christmas. We're all miserable," says Ellen, just as
Clark, having finished stringing 2,500 outdoor lights, slides off the
roof.
Of course, this is but a small setback
in Clark's quixotic quest for the perfect Christmas, a search that
becomes a chain of handyman's mishaps and neighborhood feuds, a
veritable flurry of foolishness. Now and again, it will sleigh you.
Now and again, it won't. But the ribaldry eventually snowballs, aided
by the arrival of Randy Quaid, who reprises the role of redneck cousin
Eddie. Heretofore the yuppie neighbors have made ineffective foils for
the Griswolds, a function that Quaid gleefully shoulders.
Eddie, inclined to blue leisure suits,
white shoes and caps with flaps, is hillbilly burlesque, just a little
bit of "Deliverance." He has even more trouble maneuvering through
life than Clark does. "The metal plate in my head, I had to have it
replaced 'cause every time Catherine {Miriam Flynn as his wife} turned
on the microwave I'd {wet my pants} and forget who I was." He's gross
as a belch in church, but there's something awfully touching about
this hard-luck branch of the family tree.
Eddie and his family would be homeless
but for their dilapidated RV parked in Clark's driveway. And their
whey-faced young 'uns wonder why Santa forgets them every year. Clark
takes Eddie's family in, of course, along with his quarrelsome in-laws
and other strays. Mae Questel, once the voice of Betty Boop, is a
treasure as Aunt Bethany, a daffy octogenarian who bestows her Persian
cat, gift-wrapped and squalling, upon the Griswolds. Alas, kitty
discovers electricity while chewing a strand of lights on Christmas
Eve.
Finally, dead cats, sewer gas,
cantankerous relations and other glitches dampen Clark's cheer; then
his stingy boss (Brian Doyle Murray) reneges on his Christmas bonus.
Visions of sugarplums turned into financial jam, Clark falters. Is
Santa Claus lost? Has the grinch stolen "National Lampoon's Christmas
Vacation"? No, Virginia. For as long as there's a rotten egg in the
nog, there'll be a Clark Griswold. "Christmas Vacation" may not be a
fancy package, but it is a diverting stocking stuffer.
Thanks to Rita Kempley -
Washington Post Staff Writer
