National Lampoon's European Vacation

For those of you who don't know yet (all three of you), today I set sail for London. I'll be spending three days conducting training in my company's London office, and over the weekend I'll be playing Mr. American Tourister (with lots of pictures to follow). So as part of my preparation for this upcoming trip, I decided to revisit an oldie but goodie: National Lampoon's European Vacation. I must admit, it's been years since I've seen this movie, and probably even longer since I've seen the original Vacation movie; my only excuse is that these days I'm more of a Christmas Vacation fan.

But for anyone who doesn't know the story by now, Clark Griswold (or is it Griswald?) and his family win a fabulous European vacation courtesy of their winning the grand prize on the game show "Pig in a Poke" (hosted by John Astin in what was an obvious send-up to flirtatious game show host Richard Dawson). The Griswold's itinerary includes stays in England, France, Germany, and Italy . . . and to say the least, it's anything but a relaxing vacation. As was the case in the previous Vacation movie, Clark becomes way too enthusiastic way too fast about taking his family on the "perfect" vacation—so much so that his over-enthusiasm serves as a major catalyst in the vacation's downfall.

Chevy Chase will probably be forever remembered as Clark Griswold (if not Fletch or Ty Webb), and he knows this character so well that he can probably play Clark in his sleep. Beverly D'Angelo reprises her role as Clark's devoted wife Ellen, and in keeping with all of the Vacation movies thus far, different actors play the Griswold children. Here in European Vacation, we have Jason Lively playing Rusty, and a very short Dana Hill playing a very weight-conscious Audrey. I thought Jason Lively effected an enjoyable Rusty, who does his damndest to get laid all throughout Europe, though Dana Hill seemed somewhat miscast to me. For one thing, her constant pining away for Jack, her not-so-faithful boyfriend back home, got rather tiresome quick. Plus, these smirks she gave . . . somehow they just made me want to smirk (and look away). And given the fact that she whines about everything when she isn't pining away for Jack, it didn't make me want to like Audrey as a character. So to cut a long story short, I didn't think Dana Hill made a good Audrey. Jason Lively, however, almost stole the show from Chevy a few times! His "Some Like It Hot" dream sequence was simply a laugh riot (though part of me was laughing at how dated it was, too; if I remember correctly, European Vacation was made around 1985 or so), but watching Rusty's attempts at picking up women all across Europe was simply priceless! The burn he received atop the Eiffel Tower (of all places) was something of a downer, but it was more than made up for by that blond Bavarian girl! Even Ellen herself had a few "sexy" scenes . . . and will forever be remembered as "The Wet Hot Wife" across Europe, courtesy of Clark's forgetfulness.

The cameos in European Vacation were rather unexpected, though not at all unwelcome. I recognized a few old-school British actors during the London sequences, in particular Ballard Berkeley—but the real treat came with the recurring appearances of Eric Idle, whom we all remember from the Monty Python troop. (And I simultaneously laughed and groaned when he proclaimed to Clark, "It's just a flesh wound!" after his bicycle collides with Clark's car.) I thought I recognized the old relative that Clark and his family mistakenly visit in Germany, but I can't for the life of me think of where I might have seen him. Oh, well.

I thought the opening credits were very original in their presentation: every character's passport being stamped with their respective actor's name, to the tunes of the original Vacation's "Holiday Road." I think this was also the last Vacation movie to play the song "Holiday Road"; makes sense, when you consider that Christmas Vacation wasn't necessarily a roadtrip movie but a vacation in the holiday/time-off-work sense.

The plot was consistent enough to keep me engaged throughout all the countries the Griswolds wreaked havoc on, though I thought the whole "kidnapping" bit at the end was a bit unnecessary. I can't quite explain why, but I just don't think it added very much to the story. I can't speak to the authenticity of European Vacation, being that I've only been to Europe once before. Two years ago I visited Germany for a week, and it was quite a fun and worldly experience! I stayed largely in the northern part of Germany, though, never getting down into Bavaria, so I didn't have the same experience that Clark and his family did (though maybe the Griswolds should have gone to a soccer game in Germany like I did; I can only imagine what kind of mayhem Clark and his family would have unleashed there!).

In comparison to the other Vacation movies, I'd put Christmas Vacation ahead of this one. Though I'd have to watch the original Vacation again to be fair (and before you even ask, no, I don't count Vegas Vacation as a legitimate entry into the series, much like I don't take The Godfather, Part III seriously). But I nevertheless give European Vacation a 7, and I don't think I can end this review without showing this infamous video clip.