Bonjour les vacances

This is one of those movies that i loved when i was younger so i really didn't know what to think as i watched it again. But to my surprise it is still charming, funny and sweet. Enter Chevy Chase as the last family guy, just wanting to spend time with his loving family. A hilarious journey from Chicago to California to get to an amusement park. You may think, that shouldn't be a problem, but it is. This is one vacation you will never forget. I have always liked Chevy Chase and if you watch this movie you will know why. The sweet caring family man losing more and more of his mind is nothing less than funny as hell. Maybe you will think twice about taking your family on vacation after watching this movie. I rate this movie 7/10

Clark W Griswold is one of the great characters, funny, charming and more than a little crazy he wins you over with his heart felt dedication to being the best family man he can be.

He, along with Homer Simpson, is where I took many of my parenting tips from, especially at christmas.

NLV is a great movie that never gets old and is easy to recommend :)

Who by now hasn't seen Chase's quest to get his fam from Chicago to LA in just a weeks time to enjoy some amusement park fun? The encounters along the way are now classic, some to look for: Chase delirious in the desert, the station wagon launched into the air, the visit to Cousin Eddie's (a perfectly slobby Quaid) and the chick in the red ferrari. Maybe writer John Hughes driest script, with dead dogs and dead aunts tied various places, picnic baskets wet with the grossest of liquids, and a great foul mouthed response from Chase to his whiny family. 3 (so far) sequels have followed, which was good for Chase, seeing how this was his only real memorable character ('cept maybe for Fletch). And a testament to the films popularity: Wally Joyner, a baseball player for the California Angels who was enjoying a great rookie year in 1986, had the stadium he played in decked out in "Wally World" (the familys destination) signs by fans. So a big hit all around.

Spending time with the family - something you dread and love at the same time. Well mostly - something you miss at times too though. And something that not everyone is able to squeeze in - so when the Griswolds (or is it Griswalds as they are called in the sequel?) have an opening they use the time to go on vacation. And while they could have used an airplane and flown to their desired destination - that would have nullified the movie and so many great gags it does hold for you.

Luckily they do not forget any family member (named Kevin or otherwise), but they only are four people so ... there's that. They do occasionaly lose some luggage/baggage - literally. Apart from that, the movie does not care about being politically correct at all. There is a scene in the "ghetto" with quite a lot of stereotypes. Apparently they would not do this today ... well some have regrets that they shot that (production team if I got that right).

You also have jokes about incest and cheating - the girl in the Ferrari will probably stay in your dreams ... if you are either into the car and/or the female driving it. So much fun on the road, most of it feels even real. Situations that could happen one way or the other ... and almost exactly like that. Really good comedy ... only topped by the Christmas inspired sequel that came a few years later.

I've seen this film approximately 30 to 40 times in my life, and I never get tired of it. Boneheaded, but well meaning father, Clark Griswold, driving his wife and two kids on a cross country family vacation, from Chicago to a California theme park, to spend time with all of them, before the kids are too old for such things.

Needless to say, absolutely nothing goes according to plans: they got lost before even leaving Chicago. Their new car isn't what they had planned. They're saddled with driving an obnoxious aunt to Phoenix. They get lost in the Arizona desert, after visiting obnoxious, trailer trash in-laws, and then robbed by local hicks. All of these absurd, yet wholly possible, circumstances and occurrences pile up, yet Clark Griswold (Chase, in one of his funniest roles as the hapless, clueless father) is determined to have a good holiday with the family, even if it kills them. And a junkyard dog. And Aunt Edna.

Beverly D'Angelo is equally good as the (sexy, but not overly) housewife who has enough disaster and wants to turn around and go home.

Great score by Lindsay Buckingham also.

The film is only let down a bit by the climax, when they actually get to the theme park, the laughs fizzle away. But, perhaps that was the filmmakers' intent? The journey is more memorable than the destination, as is sometimes the case.