Reunión Festiva de la Sátira Nacional

This movie was as lame as they come. Right in step with all the other straight to video/TV National Lampoon ventures. I tuned in hoping for humor because I enjoyed the works of other members of the cast, specifically Bryan Cranston and Penelope-Ann Miller. I was hoping to see Judge Reinhold in something that might be up to par with his long ago comedies. I think I was also sucked in by the fact that this was from the writers of Vegas Vacation, which despite many others opinions is a National Lampoon movie I very much enjoyed. No such luck. There is none of the trademark N.L.'s wit to this movie. The jokes are dull, beyond low brow, and fall totally flat. This is one movie you won't be sorry you missed.

i thought it was going to be funny with the previews on TBS, but when I saw the real thing, it was pathetic. Somehow the film was serious than actually funny. Its about a depressed man for which his family doesn't give a damn about him. Bryan Cranston plays the long lost cousin of Judge Reinhold for which he is a putz on the nervous breakdown and wants a real relationship with his family. Bryan was the reason i watched this movie.

Tasteless and embarrassing.

Tasteless exposure of nearly every embarrassing thing you never want the world to know about your family - plus a few more things that make watching this movie quite uncomfortable.

Judge Reinhold's characteristic awkward, uncomfortable performance could have been used to gain the sympathy of the viewer. Instead it became simply boring. But I don't blame him. The overall lack of comedic timing in this movie indicates serious problems throughout production. The movie had plenty of clever gag ideas as well as some bad ones. Many of the situations touched on were ones that the average person could relate to. The problem was in the amateurish implementation, nearly every - step - of - the - way. Each of the actors and actresses had good moments: good facial expressions and reactions. But, at the end of each scene, one shouldn't be left wondering "what was that all about?". The gags were thrown out there, but the scenes weren't polished: the bedroom-sharing scene ended on a very lame note. The nude shower scene was obviously intended as a gross-out piece, but that's all it was - disgusting, not funny. Even a mud-wrestling scene provides no satisfaction for the male audience. What was the point of including it, then?

"Since this project is categorized as being in production", I hope that the producers will take the time to reconnect the dots and polish up the scenes. There is potential, here, for a good movie.

Apart from that, one thing the movie managed to do quite well was to totally denigrate the profession of anesthesiology. Now, I'm not a big fan of doctors, but the absolute insult to this medical specialty was sad and unnecessary. I feel truly sorry for them, now.

The best line in the movie is one that sums up the entirety of the experience: "Nothing here makes any sense"

My God that's probably the 1st time anyone has ever asked that question. The main problem with this this movie is that it's too long. With commercials its running time is about 2 hours. It's about 1 hour and 58 minutes too long. Were sleeping tablets issued to the cast before filming? The real turkey on Thanksgiving was the film.

National Lampoon's Holiday Reunion is about two cousins in a rather dysfunctional family who do not even remember each other. Since neither cousin has any extended family, they decided to reunite and have Thanksgiving together. Of course, the "normal" family is appalled when they meet their redneck cousins. Sound familiar? Maybe because it is the same plot from National Lampoon's Vacation, only a lot less funny.

Judge Reinhold stars as Dr. Mitch Snider, an anesthesiologist for the stars in California. Bryan Cranston co-stars as Woodrow Snider, the redneck cousin with a big heart but down on his luck. Cousin Eddie.. I mean Cousin Woodrow is also in between a rock and a hard place financially and wants to ask his cousin, Mitch, for $60,000, but for some reason, asks for a kidney instead. I suppose to make Mitch feel sorry for him.

I do not even really have to go into the rest, because if you have seen the other National Lampoon movies up to this point, you know what will happen. Even the formula for Holiday Reunion is the same as Holdiay Vacation. Both families consist of the husband and wife, daughter and son, and of course, the token old guy.

I really hope National Lampoon's gets it's act together because they used to be a great franchise, but lately, I have seen nothing but unoriginality and poor writing, especially for the comedy we have come to expect from them. 3/10