No other holiday has given way to more movies than Christmas, but there’s one Christmas movie that stands alone. And that movie is Christmas Vacation. Celebrating its 30th year since hitting the big screen, the movie is a classic Christmas comedy and is the third movie in the “National Lampoon’s Vacation” series (Vacation in ’83 and European Vacation in ’85). It was produced by John Hughes (who also produced the Christmas classic “Home Alone”), directed by Jeremiah Chechik, and stars Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid, and Johnny Galecki. Many people claim that Christmas Vacation is the best of all the National Lampoon’s Vacation movies, and I certainly would agree with that. But one thing is for sure, this is a must watch movie every Christmas season.

The movie is set in Chicago where Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) strives to give his family a great Christmas, even with the in-laws coming to stay at the house with them. As you can imagine, the in-laws bicker, sacrifices are made for everyone to feel welcome, problems arise, and Clark’s wife Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo) and children (Johnny Galecki and Juliette Lewis) become frustrated and eager for things to get back to normal. Meanwhile to escape the madness indoors, Clark works on his big project of decorating the outside of the house with Christmas lights, which means draping 25,000 “twinkling lights” over the entire house.

As soon as the lights are finished and shining bright, Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) arrives with his ultra-redneck family in a hideous-looking RV, also looking to stay a while at the Griswold household. The families attempt to celebrate the Christmas holiday together, while also trying to get used to cope being around one another. And while things seem to finally be going pretty smooth, Clark’s highly anticipated Christmas bonus finally comes and is a huge letdown. Which then leads to a hilarious meltdown and a kidnapping.

One of the things that make this movie so enjoyable for people is they can relate to the plot. While things are certainly farfetched in the movie, they can relate to celebrating holidays with extended family members who cannot get along very well and make holidays seem like more of a hassle than a special time. And we all have family members who resemble the characters from this movie, even the outrageous Cousin Eddie, which makes it even more relatable and special.

The other thing that makes this movie so enjoyable are the many, many light-hearted laughs it provides. Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold is always a very funny character as he always seems to find himself in hilarious circumstances. And Cousin Eddie really steals the show when he shows up in the movie. The things he does are so ridiculous and funny that he will quickly become your favorite character. No other Christmas movie even comes close to being as funny as Christmas Vacation. It’s a great movie for the whole family to sit around and watch every December and one of my favorite movies of any genre, of all time.

Rating: 5/5

Garett

THIS is the Best Christmas Movie of All-Time!