Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Latest
    • Thank You
    • 4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)
    • 3999. The Pianist (2002)
    • 3998. Philadelphia (1993)
    • 3997. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
    • 3996. The Green Mile (1999)
    • 3995. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
    • 3994. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Home
    • Blog
      • All Posts
      • Best Of The Year
        • Best Of 2015
        • Best Of 2016
        • Best Of 2017
        • Best Of 2018
        • Best Of 2019
        • Best Of 2020
        • Best Of 2021
        • Best Of 2022
      • The Decade In Review
      • Box Office Analysis
      • James Bond
      • Oscars
      • RANKED
      • Star Wars
      • The Big Questions
      • Top 10
      • World Cinema
    • Ratings
      • Top 250
      • Top 100 Foreign Films
      • Bottom 50
      • 0 – 1.9
      • 2 – 3.9
      • 4 – 5.9
      • 6 – 7.9
      • 8 – 10
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Anthology
      • Animation
      • Christmas
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Documentary
      • Drama
      • Fantasy
      • Film-Noir
      • History
      • Horror
      • Kids’
      • Musical
      • Psychological
      • Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Short
      • Silent
      • Sport
      • Superhero
      • Survival
      • Thriller
      • Western
    • Release Year
      • 2020s
      • 2010s
      • 2000s
      • 1990s
      • 1980s
      • 1970s
      • 1960s
      • 1950s
      • 1940s
      • 1930s
      • 1920s
    • Country
      • Afghanistan
      • Argentina
      • Australia
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Brazil
      • Cambodia
      • Canada
      • Chile
      • China
      • Colombia
      • Costa Rica
      • Czechoslovakia
      • Czech Republic
      • Denmark
      • East Timor
      • Faroe Islands
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Georgia
      • Greece
      • Hong Kong
      • Hungary
      • Iceland
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Ireland
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Japan
      • Latvia
      • Lebanon
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Mexico
      • New Zealand
      • Nigeria
      • North Korea
      • Norway
      • Paraguay
      • Peru
      • Philippines
      • Poland
      • Romania
      • Russia
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • South Africa
      • Soviet Union
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Thailand
      • Turkey
      • Uganda
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • Uruguay
      • Vietnam
      • Zambia
    • About
    The Mad Movie Man
    You are at:Home»Review»1192. Christmas Vacation (1989)

    1192. Christmas Vacation (1989)

    0
    By The Mad Movie Man on December 23, 2015 1989, 6 - 7.9, 90-99 mins, Christmas, Comedy, Dec 15, Movies Of 2015, Review, United States
    6.8 Too episodic
    • Acting 7.0
    • Directing 7.0
    • Story 6.4
    • User Ratings (0 Votes) 0

    Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid

    Director: Jeremiah Chechik

    Running Time: 97 mins


    Christmas Vacation is an American film and the third in the Vacation series. At Christmas time, Clark Griswold gets the entire family together at his house for the ultimate holiday celebration, however it all turns sour pretty quickly.

    This is an easy-going festive comedy classic, and it’s undoubtedly got some good laughs throughout. With a performance by Chevy Chase as fun as it was in the first Vacation movie, you’ll definitely have a good time with this, but that doesn’t mean it’s as good as a comedy can be, owing to a poorly-executed story that feels much more episodic than it should be.

    Before I get into that, however, let’s look at what makes this a good film, namely the comedy. Much like the first movie, it’s largely based around slapstick humour, and that makes it a very light and easy-going watch right the way through. What’s more is that there’s not much toilet or gross-out comedy in it either, meaning that the pleasure of the Christmas atmosphere can be retained.

    Also, it subverts the Christmas comedy genre very well, by giving a cleverly contrary message. Whilst ironically ticking all the boxes of the most generic festive films, Christmas Vacation ultimately tells us that Christmas is actually mainly about arguing with your relatives and feeling disappointed and annoyed with your own life.

    Of course, that’s all meant in a fun-loving way, and it never comes off as depressing as I just made it sound, but it’s still a very clever subversion of the genre, and one that I enjoyed a lot.

    The issue with this film, particularly in comparison to the original Vacation, is that its story is very poorly structured. Rather than having a continuous narrative that actually gives you something besides the slapstick comedy (which can get a bit tiring) to care about, this feels much more like a collection of sketches strung together, with a very thin base plot to keep it all in the one film.

    Obviously, the story isn’t the main thing in a comedy movie, and that’s why I think this is definitely a decent film, but I did also find myself repeatedly frustrated by the fact that what you’re watching isn’t a well thought-out story, but some ideas that people had at different times, and then managed to stick it all together at Christmas.

    Overall, I’ll give Christmas Vacation a 6.8, because despite its lacklustre story, I definitely enjoyed the comedy for most of the time, as well as Chevy Chase’s again enjoyable performance and the clever subversion of the typical Christmas movie.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    The Mad Movie Man, AKA Anthony Cullen, writes articles and reviews about movies and the world of cinema. From January 1st, 2013 to December 31st, 2022, he watched and reviewed a movie every day. This is the blog dedicated to the project: www.madmovieman.com

    Related Posts

    8.2

    4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

    7.8

    3999. The Pianist (2002)

    8.2

    3998. Philadelphia (1993)

    Follow Me Online!
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Tumblr
    New Releases
    8.2
    December 25, 2022

    3994. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

    5.6
    December 10, 2022

    3969. Falling For Christmas (2022)

    6.9
    December 4, 2022

    3956. The People We Hate At The Wedding (2022)

    5.4
    December 3, 2022

    3954. Disenchanted (2022)

    7.4
    December 3, 2022

    3953. Meet Cute (2022)

    7.6
    November 23, 2022

    3934. Do Revenge (2022)

    7.0
    November 18, 2022

    3929. The Wonder (2022)

    6.7
    November 13, 2022

    3924. See How They Run (2022)

    Recommended Movies
    8.0
    Review
    January 30, 20140

    438. Frozen (2013)

    8.3
    Review
    September 25, 20150

    1100. The Usual Suspects (1995)

    8.9
    Review
    October 9, 20150

    1114. The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)

    8.0
    Review
    March 18, 20210

    3288. Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)

    8.4
    Review
    February 20, 20160

    1260. Force Majeure (2014)

    Popular Posts
    December 31, 2022

    Thank You

    8.2
    December 31, 2022

    4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

    7.8
    December 30, 2022

    3999. The Pianist (2002)

    8.2
    December 29, 2022

    3998. Philadelphia (1993)

    7.5
    December 28, 2022

    3997. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

    9.1
    December 27, 2022

    3996. The Green Mile (1999)

    7.6
    December 26, 2022

    3995. Doctor Zhivago (1965)

    © 2023 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.