Griswolds return in shock-filled 'Vacation'
John Hughes would be shocked! shocked! at how gross and graphic the characters he wrote for Harold Ramis' 1983 comedy "National Lampoon's Vacation" have now become.
In this new "Vacation" - the directorial debuts of Wheeling native John Francis Daley and his writing partner Jonathan Goldstein - the next generation of Griswolds takes another ill-fated road trip to Walley World Amusement Park, an odyssey booby-trapped with F-bombs, graphic nudity, bodily fluids, attempted suicide and a twisted trucker nod to Steven Spielberg's TV movie "Duel."
"This will be completely different!" Rusty Griswold (now played by Ed Helms) promises his family at the start. How different? The first "Vacation" had boy-girl siblings. The new one has two boy siblings.
Another key difference is how the Hughes/Ramis original emanated a genuine sense of sweetness for the fumbling Griswold family, but the inspiration for the harsher "Vacation" clearly stems from "The Hangover," which Daley and Goldstein channeled when they rewrote their first screenplay to "Horrible Bosses."
Daley and Goldstein stuffed "Horrible Bosses" with crude and crass humor, and it became a hit. They've done the same thing in "Vacation" by having the Griswolds mistake sewage pits for hot springs and allowing Rusty's beefcake weathercaster brother-in-law (Chris Hemsworth) to give male viewers a case of phallus envy.
The result is a messy mashup of hilarious sight gags and sitcom humor propelled mostly by sheer shock value.
Rusty (originally played by Anthony Michael Hall), the son of Clark and Ellen Griswold (Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo, who make lengthy cameos), has grown up to become a well-meaning doofus married to the lovely Debbie (Christina Applegate).
They have two sons, the insecure and artistically sensitive James (Skyler Gisondo) and his bullying, foul-mouthed little brat brother Kevin (Steele Stebbins).
Debbie wants to take a family vacation to France. Rusty has a better (and cheaper) idea: to retrace the disastrous 1983 family Wally World trip.
Reluctantly, everyone agrees. Off go the Griswolds in an Albanian-built family car that looks as if Dr. Seuss designed it with a console of mysterious buttons that nobody knows what they do - until one gets pressed.
For every joke that fizzles, another picks up the slack, starting with an opening montage of "awkward family photos" establishing the hard-R-rated ribaldry that sets the movie's adult tone.
"Vacation" attempts to empathize with poor Rusty as he struggles to be a good dad. But he can't discipline kids or capitalize on teachable moments. Yet, his movie does.
This ridiculous, vulgar comedy shows us life can be messy, people can be flawed, relationships can be tough and endings can be unhappy.
Out of these harsh truths Daley and Goldstein pull an optimistic observation: Our families make it all bearable.
John Hughes would approve of that, even in a silly, sourly gross summer comedy like this one.
“Vacation”
★ ★ ½
Starring: Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Skylar Gisondo, Steele Stebbins, Chevy Chase, Chris Hemsworth, Beverly D'Angelo
Directed by: Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley
Other: A Warner Bros. release. Rated R for language, nudity, sexual situations. 99 minutes