Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘National Lampoon’s Vacation’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​There came a day for all of us many years ago. That day when dad and mom sat us all down to let us know that they had something incredible planned for us. The family was going on vacation and it was going to be glorious. We packed our luggage and loaded up the family car and off we went either by land or air to enjoy incredible memories that would last us a lifetime.  
 
Sounds amazing, doesn't it? But we all know, that wasn't always the case. For despite the fond memories, we carry of our family there were definitely moments we would like to forget from our family vacations. There were the backseat battles between siblings, the fatigue that settled in, the days that no one wanted to get up and see the sights. In some cases, things went terribly wrong and the vacation ended on a sour note. It is all those elements from vacation's past that led legendary screenwriter John Hughes to put together the best and worst moments of all of our family travels in the brilliant comedy, National Lampoon's Vacation.

​Clark Griswold has always dreamed of the perfect vacation. The open road, his family at his side, what could be better? The opportunity finally arrives to take his wife and kids on that dream vacation when Clark decides it is high time, they head to the greatest amusement park in all the land... Walley World. But this vacation will be more than Clark bargained for, because everything that can go wrong... will go wrong.  
 
There are few writers in the history of Hollywood as brilliant as John Hughes. Simply because the man understood people. He knew what made them tick and he poured that into every script he ever wrote. Vacation is no exception to that rule. Simply because John Hughes brought to life every single bad memory, we ever had about the family road trip and made them completely and utterly hilarious. This is hands down, one of the funniest comedies of all time, not only because we can relate to the material but because of how endearing the film is and how perfect Chevy Chase is every second he is on screen. There are few comedic actors with his timing and his chops and Chevy lifts the film to new levels.  
 
But as I said before, the film is endearing because of its underlying message that family is greater than anything. Despite all the hell the Griswold's go through, they still stick together and that makes the film all that more incredible. If by some odd chance you haven't seen National Lampoon's Vacation yet, you need to. In fact, don't waste any time trying to stream it, Redbox it or Netflix it... just go out and buy it, because this is one that belongs in your collection, it's that good.  ​

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